


Still, I Rise

by copperblue



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, As I hope my writing will, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Slow Burn, Starts off full of angst but will get better, will add tags as we go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-05-14 02:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 41,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14760686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copperblue/pseuds/copperblue
Summary: Supergirl is missing and the team are not dealing with it very well.It's been months since Supergirl went missing after being injured in a fight. The team are struggling to cope without the heart and soul of their group. When Supergirl eventually turns up, their lives are turned upside down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**  

 

Alex didn't know where she was - not that she really cared. She focused on the task at hand, trying to block out all other distractions around her. To block out the world. As she poured another drink, it sloshed over the bar. _Dammit,_ she thought despondently,  _what a waste._

The bar was relatively busy for a weekday. The décor was something left to be desired, but the food was good which resulted in a steady stream of customers through-out the day. It wasn't really to Alex's taste, but she was running out of options and as long as they were serving, she wasn't leaving. Not willingly, anyway.

Realising the bottle was empty, Alex called the woman behind the bar over. 'I wan' t'nother.' she slurred, swinging the bottle round before slamming it back on the bar.  Noticing the bartenders look, she added 'Without judgement.'

The woman hesitated a moment longer, trying to judge how much trouble she thought Alex could be. Deciding she couldn't be much of a threat, the woman placed another bottle of whisky on the bar with a muttered 'That's your lot.'

Alex quickly snatched the bottle away as if afraid the woman might change her mind. As she poured another drink, being very careful not to spill any this time, she subconsciously tuned into a news item on the television behind her. 

'Thank you, Hugh,' came the news reporters voice. 'Yes, I am downtown in what, to all intents and purposes, could be seen as a disaster movie.' Alex rolled her eyes as she knocked her drink back before immediately pouring another.

'Two aliens attempted to rob National City Bank whilst trying to also cause as much chaos and disruption in the street as possible. Luckily for us, our resident hero was able to swoop in and foil their plans. And here she is now! Supergirl, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?'

Alex's back stiffened upon hearing _that_ name. Her heart rate suddenly picking up.

'Of course, Ben.' came Supergirl's friendly reply.

'Great. Thank you.' stuttered the reporter, flustered over Supergirl knowing his name. Supergirl smiled warmly at him, patiently waiting for his question. 'Right, erm…can you tell me in your own words what happened here?'

Supergirl's face turned serious. 'Well Ben, at approximately 11:30am -'

Alex's hand tightened around her glass. 'Turn it off,' she said quietly.

The woman behind the bar frowned at her. 'Excuse me?'

Suddenly Alex's anger exploded. 'I said turn it off!' She whirled round, hurling her glass at the image of Supergirl on the screen. The screen cracked as the glass shattered, causing several patrons to scream. There was an awkward silence as all eyes turned to Alex. No one dared move. Alex turned her back on them all, returning to her task of drinking herself into oblivion. Realising she now had no glass, Alex leaned over the bar to grab another.

Somewhere behind her a man cleared his throat. 'I guess you don't like her either.'

Alex slowly turned to face the person who had spoken. 'What did you say?'

'Well, you know...that alien bitch lords it over us all, like she's some kind of god, regardless of what we want.'

Alex regarded him coolly. The man stepped back, to the comfort of his group of friends, withering under that gaze. Alex stepped in. 'Go on. Say that one more time.'

The man falters. 'That - that alien whore should just go home or better yet - die.'

Alex smiles at him. 'Thank you.'

The man's confidence lifted 'For what?'

'For giving me an excuse,' she says before the bar erupts into chaos.

 

 

 

Supergirl was backed into a corner, with no hope of escaping any time soon. With a smile plastered to her face, she obligingly posed for selfie after selfie whilst signing random paraphernalia, everything from sandwich packets to skin. After her interviews with NCTV and Catco, she was accosted by fans, and although Supergirl found this side of being a superhero a little uncomfortable, she would never want to disappoint people if she could help it. 

James Olsen pulled up on his motorbike. Dressed as his hero alter-ego, Guardian, he turned more than a few heads. 'Hey, Supergirl, you got a minute? I have something that needs your attention.'

Supergirl nodded to Guardian in acknowledgement before turning her attention to those still crowding her. 'Sorry, ladies and gents, but duty calls.' She strolled over to where Guardian was sat astride his bike, aware that people were now taking pictures of both her and Guardian. 'So, what's up?'

'Nothing. I just thought you needed help.'

'I had it under control.' Supergirl responded, with a slight pout.

'Really? Cos' you know, you looked kind of trapped.' 

Supergirl glanced around to make sure no-one was too close. 'You know how looks can be deceiving. But thanks. See you back at the DEO?'

Guardian shook his head. 'No. I'm going to patrol for a while. I'll check in later.' With that he gunned his bike and sped off, whilst Supergirl leapt into the air, heading for the DEO.

 

 

 

Winn Schott stared at the screen in front of him with such intensity, his eyes were beginning to hurt. Since working for the Department of Extra-Normal Operations or DEO for short, Winn had gotten used to pulling an all-nighter without a second thought. But in the past few months, he had barely been home, and it was beginning to take its toll. He rubbed his eyes to try and improve his focus and realising it hadn't helped at all, stood up to stretch.

As he did so, Supergirl flew into the main hub of the DEO shapeshifting as she landed, first into his true form J'onn Jonz, the Green Martian, before settling into his human persona of Hank Henshaw, Director of the DEO. Winn was about to approach the Director when an alert went off on his console. He turned his attention to the message.

'Er, sir? We may have a slight problem.'

J'onn diverted towards Winn's station. 'What is it?'

'We've just intercepted a call made to the NCPD about a human bar fight.'

J'onn frowned, 'Well that's the NCPD's territory Winn, what's it got -'

Winn gulped, 'The description of the perp who started it matches Alex.'

'Have NCPD responded yet?'

'Not yet, sir, but it won't be long. Especially if Maggie's on duty.'

'Ok. Call Maggie and get her here. I'll get Alex.' Winn gave him the location before Hank shapeshifted into his Green Martian form, knowing it will be quicker to fly, and headed for the DEO balcony. 

 

 

 

J'onn landed in an alley just outside the bar, The Extra Mile and shifted back into his Hank Henshaw form. Guardian followed him into the alley at a run.

'Winn called,' he told J'onn by way of explanation. J'onn nodded before heading into the bar.

Inside was a mess. There was broken furniture, food and glass all over the bar, with several people lying unconscious on the floor, pool tables, bar. A few separate fights were taking place, and in the middle of the bar Alex was holding her own against a male and female team-up. As she pulled her fist back to throw another punch, she was barrelled into from the side by a third person joining the fray. They both went flying into a table before falling to the floor. Alex lay for a moment, winded. Into her view came the face of the woman she'd been fighting. Not allowing her to get another hit in, Alex scissor-kicked the woman in the face, before flipping herself over to straddle the guy who had barrelled into her. She grabbed a bottle from the floor and raised it to hit the guy, but before she could, someone grabbed her arm. Alex stood, spinning round to face her new opponent, only to come face to face with J'onn.

'Alex, stop,' he said sternly.

Alex paused, anger and adrenalin seething through her. 'How dare you,' she said coldly. 'How dare you!' she screamed, punching J'onn in the face with as much force as she could. J'onn barely flinched.

'Did that make you feel better?' he asked.

'No.' Alex pulled back for another hit but found her other arm held back, this time by Guardian.

'You need to calm down.' came the voice behind Guardian's mask.

'Or what?' came Alex's scathing reply.

In response, James twisted Alex's arm behind her back as J'onn did the same and cuffed her. Alex struggled against them both, but she was no match for the Green Martian. It didn't stop her from trying though.

'Let's go, Alex.'

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> This chapter is sooooo full of angst. Sorry - not sorry. I promise it will get lighter soon. Also, she's not with us yet but Kara will be making an appearance in the next chapter or two. Let me know what you think. Comments, criticisms, suggestions are all welcome. Happy reading.

Chapter 2

 

Winn's knee jiggled up and down as he nervously waited for Maggie to arrive at the DEO. It had taken him several attempts to reach her and she'd not been happy when he'd explained why he was calling. Hell, no-one wasn't happy with why he'd been calling. Alex was a mess. J'onn had brought her in, kicking and screaming all the way, before he'd thrown her into a cell where she continued to rage at the world. Winn had never seen Alex so out of control and it was more than a little frightening. He was grateful J'onn had brought Alex in the back way, at least she was spared the indignity of being dragged through the building with everyone watching. They didn't need to see Alex's fall. 

 

James approached Winn, leaning against his desk. "Hey, you ok?"

 

Winn dragged his gaze from where he had been staring at the main entrance, to look at James. "Yeah. I'm just worried about Alex."

 

"We all are, man." responded James with a sigh.

 

"It's all such a mess. How did we get here?"

 

"You know how, Winn."

 

A flurry of movement caught their eye as Maggie practically ran into the DEO. "Winn! Winn, where is she?"

 

James nodded in greeting, "Hey, Maggie."

 

She glanced at him before repeating her question. Maggie wasn't interested into polite greetings right now. "Where is Alex?"

 

Winn gulped, knowing Maggie wasn't going to like his answer. "She's in a cell."

 

"What?!" She yelled. "Are you kidding me? Where's J'onn? I want to speak with him."

 

"I'm right here, Maggie."

 

She whorled round, not having noticed J'onn approach them.

 

"You put her in a cell?!" cried Maggie indignantly.

 

"Better a DEO cell than a police cell."

 

Maggie paced angrily, furious at Alex's treatment by her so called friends. "She doesn't deserve this."

 

"Actually, she does." piped up James. "Alex assaulted a lot of people in that bar, including J'onn."

 

Maggie stopped in shock at the new information, all the fight leaving her. "She hit you?" she asked J'onn.

 

"I'm fine. I've had worse." said J'onn pretending to shrug it off, when they all knew he was hurting from the blow. Maybe not physically, but emotionally... Alex was like a daughter to him and seeing her this way was painful.

 

"Can I see her, please J'onn?" pleaded Maggie.

 

But J'onn held firm, "She needs some time to cool off first. You can see her in a while." Seeing Maggie's concern he added, "She's fine Maggie. Just give her some time."

 

Not happy with the decision but knowing she wouldn't get very far without J'onn's say so, Maggie reluctantly agreed.

 

J'onn squeezed her shoulder in comfort before addressing the group as a whole. "Whilst I have you all here in one place, I need to tell you something."J'onn paused, steeling himself for what was to come next. "I have orders from the President to stop the search for Supergirl...for Kara."

 

"What?!" came the three cries at once, followed by a cacophony of protests.

 

J'onn waited calmly until the noise died down. "On Friday, the President will announce Supergirls' death."

 

James was pacing, rubbing the back of his neck nervously; Winn had fallen back into his chair, utterly defeated; whilst Maggie had paled beyond belief as she gripped the desk in front of her.

 

After a moment, Maggie's voice broke the silence that had consumed the team. "Does Alex know?"

 

J'onn nods. "Yes. We have protocol's in place. Alex's known from the beginning there was a time limit."

 

Maggie swallowed this information, feeling sick. Why hadn't Alex told her? How was Maggie supposed to help her, when she kept things like this to herself.

 

Suddenly Winn jumped up angrily. "Screw protocol." 

 

"Winn, calm down."

 

"No, James. I won't calm down. After everything Kara has done for us, we're just going to give up on her?!"

 

"No-one's giving up - "

 

"You heard J'onn. The President is pulling the plug." 

 

"Winn, I never said we were giving up. But as of Friday, we can no longer use DEO resources. So we need to go back over everything we know so far and re-think our strategies." explained J'onn calmly. "So, what do we know so far?"

 

J'onn took in the group around him. He knew exactly how they were feeling. Shocked, devastated, angry. Even though he'd been expecting it, when the President called, he had tried to get her to wave protocol on this one occasion, but she was having none of it. He understood her reasons, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow. They had failed. He had failed. Failed Eliza. Failed Alex. But most of all failed Kara.

 

J'onn shook his head, trying to put his feeling's aside and turned is thoughts to the task at hand. They still had a few days and he was going to make sure they didn't waste their resources. They needed to focus if they were ever going to find out what happened to Kara. He swallowed as he realised he hadn't thought, _if they were ever going to find Kara._  

 

"Winn. Start us off. What do we know."

 

Winn glared at J'onn, still angry. "We know Supergirl was injured in a fight. We know she was taken through a portal of some kind. We know no-one has seen or heard from her in over 5 months." He stopped, as they all processed those final words. _5 months._

 

"What else?" asked J'onn after a moment.

 

"We know Knoxx was involved somehow." chipped in James. After a moment he realised he was expected to continue. "He, erm, posed as someone form Kara's past, he befriended her, got us all to trust him. Then he set a trap, hurt her and took her."

 

"Are we sure he set the trap?"

 

"What do you mean Maggie?"

 

Maggie straightened, "Well we know Knoxx was there, but so were those others Alex mentioned - the guys dressed like ninjas? Maybe they set the trap."

 

"We've explored both options and neither have led us to any solid conclusions either way."

 

With a sigh, Maggie turned to the screen on Winn's desk where camera footage of Alex in her cell was playing "I know. I just think it's worth looking at again. J'onn can I please see Alex now?"

 

"Of course. And you're right, we need to comb through every piece of evidence again. We must be missing something." 

 

 

 

Alex sat despondently in her DEO cell. She kept going through _that_ day again, and again. It was on permanent replay and being drunk hadn't helped this time. It was just making everything worse. How was that even possible? How could anything be worse than they were right now. She was furious with J'onn. How dare he bring her back here. She had made it very clear months ago that she wanted nothing more to do with the DEO and now here she was sat in one of their cells. She could just imagine how they were all watching her on the monitor in the main hub. She childishly raised her middle finger to them. _Screw you._ Alex sighed and rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes. But there she was again, Kara, pleading for her help.

 

Alex couldn't remember the last time she had happy memories of Kara. Was this it now? Until the day she died, would her only thought's of Kara be of those last moments? Of her broken and bleeding and crying out to Alex for help? She angrily wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks. Standing up she paced her cell in frustration, getting worked up again. She needed a drink. Now. Why were they doing this to her? Locking her up? Those righteous, sons of - Alex didn't get to finish that thought as door to the room opened. Maggie. Alex glared at her.

 

"Took you long enough." she growled. Alex saw Maggie's pained expression at her jibe. Good. She deserved it.

 

Maggie keyed the code to unlock the cell door. "Here." She held out a bottle of water and an ice-pack to Alex. "I thought you might need these."  

 

Suddenly realising how thirsty she was, Alex snatched the bottle of water from Maggie's hands. She left the icepack. Her eye hurt, her lip hurt, her jaw hurt but pain was good. She deserved pain. Alex gulped the water down and threw the bottle on the floor. "Can I go now?" 

 

Maggie moved to block her path. 

 

Alex squared up to her, "Seriously Maggie? You want to try and take me?"

 

Maggie stood her ground. "I just want to talk, Alex." She looked at the pain in Alex's eyes, wanting so much to help, but hardly knowing how. This woman was so different from the one she fell in love with, and yet she loved her all the same. Even more so. They had made a vow, _for better or for worse,_ and things didn't get much worse than this. She had been watching Alex's guilt eat her up for months now and no matter how much she wanted to help, or how hard she tried, Maggie couldn't seem to help Alex with her pain. No one could. Except maybe Kara, and she wasn't here. 

 

Maggie took a deep breath, bracing herself against the pain she was about to inflict. "J'onn told us about the Presidents orders. I'm sorry."

 

Alex visibly flinched. Maggie reached for her hand in comfort but Alex pulled away, turning her back. "I'm not giving up, Alex." 

 

"Well, maybe you should." came Alex's disdainful reply.

 

Maggie wasn't she if she was speaking about them or Kara or both. Maggie shook her head, not wanting to acknowledge the truth in tat sentence. "No. There is still hope. We just need to go back through the evidence, and we'll find something. Something we missed. Something that will tell us where Kara went, and then we'll get her back."

 

Alex turned a disgusted look to Maggie. "Do you hear yourself?  _There's still hope,_ " she mocked, " _We'll get her back._ You're the detective here Maggie. How often do missing person cases turn out for the better after 5 months? Huh? You didn't see her, how hurt she was. She's dead Maggie. All the President is doing, is announcing the fact."

 

"Alex, you can't keep blaming yourself for what - "

 

Alex couldn't stand this any more. She cut Maggie off screaming, "I blame YOU Maggie! You!" 

 

Maggie felt like she'd been slapped round the face. A part of her had known Alex felt this way, it made sense, but to hear her say it... 

 

Alex let all her anger flow freely, directly at the woman she loved most in the world, and a part of her knew it wasn't fair, but she couldn't stop herself. All the hurt between them was pouring out.

 

"You were the one, that convinced me to stay in bed with you. God, whilst Kara was fighting for her life, we were having sex! I was meant to be on an assignment with Kara, but no, you had to have your morning hook up first. Because of you, I wasn't with Kara when I should have been."

 

Maggie hung her head in shame, "I'm...I'm sorry" she choked out.

 

Alex looked at Maggie coldly. "Sorry won't fix anything. She's gone and the sooner you all except that, the better."

 

Alex left before Maggie could respond. She ignored the puzzled looks she received from the agents as she stalked out of the DEO. She vaguely heard J'onn and James calling out to her but Alex ignored them, keeping her eyes forward. She had nothing left to say to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's ok, they'll get through it. I'm Sanvers forever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of our friends from Earth 1 are joining us. I've taken the liberty of assuming the reader knows who they are. Hope that's ok.

Chapter 3

Barry sleepily poured coffee into a Star Labs mug before taking a moment to sigh lamentedly over the loss of his red mug. He loved that mug. He had tried to find another mug to equal its superiority but always found himself woefully disappointed. They just weren’t the same. He took a sip of his coffee and sighed again.

Iris walked into his lab to catch him sighing sadly. Concerned by how tired he looked she asked “Are you ok, Barry?”

Another sigh. “Yeah.”

Iris’ eye-brows knit together as she wrapped him in a hug. “Are you sure?”

“I miss my red mug, “pouts Barry.

Iris pushes away from him in disgust. “Seriously?”

Barry looks innocently at her. “What?”

“I thought you were genuinely upset!”

“I am genuinely upset. It was a great mug.”

Now it was Iris’ turn to sigh. “Barry, it’s been years since that mug broke. You gotta let it go.” Spotting a familiar figure approaching shoe looked for an ally. “Dad, tell Barry to let it go.”

“Barry, let it go.” responded Joe on auto-pilot as he walked into the office. “Hey honey.” He said giving Iris a quick hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

Barry turned an offended look to Joe. “Hey! Do you even know what we’re talking about?”

Joe cocked an eyebrow in Barry’s direction. “I don’t need to know. My baby girl is always right.”

Iris smiled smugly at Barry who was about to fire off a retort to the contrary, but on seeing Joe’s challenging look quickly changed his mind. Instead he decided to divert his attention back to the drinking of his coffee.

Iris and Joe beamed childishly at one another in victory. 

“So, honey, what are you doing here? I thought you had a day off.” 

“I do.” Iris casually wandered over to Barry’s desk, glancing at the various papers strewn about it. “I was going to see if…” she trailed off, frowning at the papers. “Barry, is this what you’ve been working on?” Iris held up a photo she’d seen a thousand times, of Barry and a blonde woman with a sunny smile. Kara. 

The photo had been pinned to a board at Star Labs for weeks after Barry, Cisco and Caitlin had received a desperate message from Earth 38. Alex, Kara’s sister, was distraught as she pleaded for their help in looking for Kara after she went missing. The team had called on the Legends and team Arrow to join them as they tirelessly searched the multi-verse for any sign of where Kara might have gone but to no avail. She had literally disappeared off the face of the Earth – all 52 of them. 

Despite not being of their Earth, everyone had felt the loss of Kara deeply. She was a good friend to them all, but most of all to Barry. Her seemingly endless optimism and sunny personality was utterly infectious and the thought of Kara not sharing her love for life with those around her, left Iris with a feeling of utter sadness.

The same feeling she could see reflected in Barry as she held up the photo. His shoulders slumped forward as he tiredly looked at Iris.

“I can’t give up on her. Not yet.” 

Joe laid a hand on Barry’s shoulder in reassurance. “We know Barry. But, you do need to take a break every now and again. Not even The Flash can keep up this pace. Why don’t you take the day off?”

Barry crossed to his desk and gathered up some of his paperwork. “I don’t know Joe, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Joe caught Iris’ eye, giving her a pointed look. Pulling her thoughts away from Kara, she frowned at him trying to interpret his look, as he jerked his head towards Barry. Catching on, Iris jumped in to persuade Barry to take some time off.

“Come on Barry. I feel like we haven’t spent any time together in weeks and I was hoping we could maybe get some breakfast and then we could,” Iris searched for something Barry wouldn’t want to say no to, “- we could go to that future science exhibition you were talking about.” 

There was a glint of excitement in Barry’s eyes at the mention of the science exhibition. He had wanted to go, but it was hard to find time and the exhibition was due to finish this week. He smiled appreciatingly at Iris who he knew had absolutely no interest in going, but who would endure listening to him geek out over science just to make him happy. In his quest to find answers about Kara, Barry realised he had been somewhat neglecting Iris recently. This day would be as much for her as for him. 

Without any new leads on Kara, Barry decided Iris and Joe were right. He was tired and a day off could only help in giving him fresh eyes to go over the details of Kara’s case. “Iris, you know I can’t say no to science projects of the future.” Seeing Iris’ incredulous look, he added “Or you!”

“Nice save.” Joe said, giving Barry a reassuring nod.

“Thanks Joe. Right, so should we go?” he asked Iris.

“No.”

“But you just said –“ Barry began in protest.

“First, you need a shower. I’ll see you at Jitters in 15?” Iris gave Barry a quick peck on the check before sauntering away. Mission accomplished, she thought.

Barry stared after her in shock. 

“You do kind of smell.” affirmed Joe before following his daughter.

Barry tilted his head to sniff his armpit, before pulling away in disgust. “Fair enough. Shower it is.” he said to the world in general, before he sped out of the precinct at super-speed.

 

Ever since, Barry had discovered his super-speed he had loved running. Normally he would be wearing his Flash super-suit to avoid setting himself on fire, but he figured he could get away with it today by keeping his speed fractionally slower than normal, and the fact it was a relatively short journey home – at his speed, anyway.

The city was busy with the morning rush, but Barry let his mind wander as he sped along the familiar route through the city. He loved the feeling of freedom running gave him. Never more so than when it wasn’t in the pursuit of a criminal or whilst trying to save the world. When it was just because he could. His super-speed was such a part of him now, he could barely remember a time when – 

Barry was suddenly pulled out of his daydreaming as he hit something hard and fell to the floor. Had he just run into a wall? He quickly put that notion out of his head as he registered the surprised squeal and the feel of hot coffee down his shirt. He jumped up quickly as he realised he had run into a person. An actual person. That had never happened before. How did that happen? How had he been knocked over but not them? The thoughts ran around confusedly in his head.

The woman stood in shock staring down at her blouse, which was covered in a dark coffee stain. Barry went to pat it dry, apologising profusely, before registering how utterly in-appropriate that would be. He draw back from her, pulling his hands away before he made contact and grimacing.

“I’m so sorry.” spluttered Barry in embarrassment.

“No, I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” protested the woman as she patted down her blouse with a napkin. “I didn’t see you there.” She adjusted her glasses, which had been knocked skew-whiff, as she looked up at him for the first time. 

Barry’s mouth dropped in astonishment as he looked into the piercing blue eyes behind the glasses. “K-Kara?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter. A lot less angsty than the previous. I don't feel I know team Flash as well, so I hope the characters are still believable. I'm hoping to post the next chapter earlier than usual. Keep your eyes peeled and your comments coming. They really are appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry ladies & gents. I said I would post early - I then posted late! Work has been mental and I have sat on this chapter for a week as I wasn't happy with it. I think the chaos of work was coming out in my writing, if that makes sense? Anyway, I'm still not entirely happy with it but here it is. Thanks for all your support and comments. Keep them coming.

Chapter 4

Barry couldn’t believe it. After all these months of searching for Kara and here she was, right in front of him. He felt paralysed with shock, whilst in contrast she seemed flustered.

“I wasn’t paying attention. I really should have been looking at where I was going rather than at my… How did I not see you? And look at your shirt – it’s ruined! And my shirt…and oh God, oh God, her dry cleaning. She’s gonna kill me. These are probably my last moments on Earth. This is how I die.” she finished dramatically, eyes wide.

Pausing for breath and realising she was babbling, she blushed when at seeing the strange look on Barry’s face. ”Sorry, I babble when I’m nervous. Are you ok?” When she still didn’t get a response, she continued, “You fell pretty hard. Did you hit your head? You might have a concussion, you know. I should get you some help.” 

Barry stared at her dumb-founded as his thoughts tried to catch up. Maybe it wasn’t Kara. She clearly didn’t recognise him. He knew he was a little dishevelled right now, but he hadn’t really changed since they had last seen one-another and she, well she looked exactly the same. Besides, only Kara could be still standing after The Flash ran into her.   
Barry realised this woman was growing increasingly concerned by his silence as he tried to think of something to say - anything actually. She reached out to touch his arm, stepping closer to peer at him. “I think I’m going to call – “ The contact on his arm jolted him into action.

“No, no, I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head.” There were a thousand other things he wanted to really say to her, but this whole encounter had thrown him for six. Of all the ways he’d imagined finding Kara, this had never occurred to him. 

“Are you sure? Because you don’t seem fine.” she said with a worried frown.

Pulling himself together Barry decided he needed to take charge of this situation. “Honestly, I’m fine. Just surprised, that’s all.” The absurdity of this situation suddenly caught up with him and he laughed nervously, almost hysterical with relief. Maybe he had hit his head? 

Kara beamed at his laughter before slightly frowning through her smile. “If you’re sure…” she responded uncertainly. 

“I’m good. Better than good actually. I’m great. How are you?” Now he was babbling.

Kara was a little confused by the question. “I’m good too.” she said slowly.

Another awkward pause. When he didn’t say any more, Kara made to leave, “Well I’m late for work, so um, I’ve got to get going. Sorry again for walking into you.” 

This was not going to plan. Barry needed to find a way to keep her there until he could think of what to do. He could speed her back to S.T.A.R. Labs, but she was Supergirl, at least he thought she was, and there was a chance she would fight him and he would probably lose that battle. Insist he accompany her to work? Kind of creepy. Pretend he was injured and needed her help? That ship had sailed. Ask her on a date? Really? Would that work? 

“Wait!” he called desperately after her. Kara turned around, startled by the sound of desperation in his voice. He thrust his hand out to her “I’m Barry.”

Kara smiled in amusement. “It’s nice to meet you, Barry.” she said, shaking his hand. 

Over Kara’s shoulder, a flash of blue light on top of a building caught Barry’s eye. He watched as a familiar blue and white liquid-like circle formed, before three figures appeared through it. A breech. They were dressed in tight fighting black trousers and shirts, the only colour on them from a green belt around their waist. Their faces were covered with masks leaving only their eyes visible. Something about them screamed danger to Barry. The breech closed and Barry saw the three new comers scout the street below before their eyes settled on where he and Kara were stood. 

Letting go of Kara’s hand and automatically stepping in front of her, he waited to see what they would do next. Two out of the three jumped off the building and began stalking their way through the busy street towards he and Kara, the third drew a bow and aimed an arrow at them. 

Kara watched as Barry became distracted by something behind her. She felt strangely drawn towards him and was slightly disappointed as Barry dropped her hand and walked past her, clearly having already forgotten about her. 

“Well I’m just gonna go now.” she called, in an attempt to draw his attention back. Having no effect, Kara whispered “Nice to meet you Barry.” before continuing on her way.

Barry didn’t hear her as he assessed the situation. He decided to take out the immediate threat – the arrfow. As the archer pulled back on the bow, Barry sped through the street and up the side of the building to the roof. The arrow was released and Barry swiped it from the air, snapping it in two. He took the bow, quiver and arrows from his assailant, not given them a chance to use the weapons again, before punching them full force on their jaw, sending them sprawling to the ground unconscious. Barry paused at the edge of the building to take stock of where the other two attackers were. Both were stalking to where Kara had stood only moments ago, hands reaching to draw weapons. He sped towards them, barrelling into them from behind, knocking them both into a signpost. As they crumpled to the ground, Barry added their weapons to his arsenal.

Feeling fairly certain Kara was the target, Barry decided to grab her and run. He returned to where he had left her just a few feet away but she had gone. Damn, that girl’s fast! he thought to himself as he quickly searched the street for any sign of the blonde hair and blue eyes. 

His search was interrupted by a buzzing in his pocket. Pulling out his phone, Iris’ name flashed on the screen. Glancing at the clock on his phone he realised he was late for his date. As soon as the call connected he heard Iris’ voice down the line.

“Barry, where are you? Your coffee is getting cold.”

“Iris, I am so sorry, something came up. I need you to meet me at S.T.A.R. Labs. I’ll explain everything.”

Breakfast would have to wait – he had work to do.

 

Cisco, Caitlin and Iris listened in silence as Barry described his encounter with Kara that morning. He watched as they each tried to process the information.

“And you’re sure it was her?” asked Iris.

“Yes. Well no, but fairly sure.”

“Fairly sure?” Caitlin prodded.

“Well she looked exactly like Kara, and she acted just like Kara.”

“And you literally ran into her.” added Cisco, clearly amused by the fact.

“Exactly! Who other than the Girl of Steel can stop a speeding Flash?” 

Barry caught Iris frowning slightly at him.

“Iris?”

“Barry, it’s not that I don’t believe you…”

“But…?” asked Barry after she had lapsed into silence.

“You were really tired this morning, and we were talking about Kara right before you left. Do you think maybe you saw what you wanted to see?”

“No. She was real. I had a whole conversation with her, and what about the weapons?” countered Barry.

“I’m not saying those guys weren’t real.“

“No, I mean look at the weapons.” He unsheathed a sword to reveal a glowing green blade.

“What is that?” asked Cisco, as Caitlin instantly moved to look closer at the blade.

Barry handed her the weapon. “I think it’s Kryptonite. The one substance that can kill Supergirl.”

“Cool.” whispered Cisco. “I mean not cool that it kills Supergirl, but cool that it’s an alien substance.”

“Those guys were there for Kara.” insisted Barry. “Remember what Alex said? When Kara disappeared there were –“

“A group of ninjas.” finished Iris.

“Exactly. We need to find her before they come back. Cisco, now that we know she is in the city, do you think you can run facial recognition through the system again?”

“I can but I don’t think it will help. I have been running a program on a loop since she disappeared, in case she suddenly made an appearance, but it hasn’t resulted in any matches. For some reason, Kara is a ghost on the system.”

Barry looked at his friend with affection, “You’ve been looking for her all this time?”

“Of course, I have” scoffed Cisco. “You weren’t giving up so neither was I. Besides, it’s Kara.”

“Thanks man.” said Barry as he pulled cisco into a hug.

Whilst Barry and Cisco shared a moment, Caitlin and Iris shared a look.

“As reluctant as I am to break up this bromance, can we get back to finding Kara?” interrupted Iris. “If technology can’t help us, I suggest we find her the old fashioned way.”

“And that is?” asked Cisco.

“Detective work. I am the daughter of a cop.” responded Iris with a grin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 already, and I've only just started the story really. I hope it's not too slow! This feels better than the last chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I'll respond to you all as quickly as I can.

Chapter 5

Earth 38

Alex stepped into Kara’s apartment, instantly surveying the scene before her for anything different since she had last been there. A used coffee cup was still in the sink, left with the intention of being cleaned after work; a copy of Catco magazine lay open on the counter at a now out-of-date article about the rise of a certain CEO; a postcard from their mother was still stuck to the fridge, despite the vacation being long over by now.

Alex aimlessly opened the fridge door and scrutinized the lack of just about anything in Kara’s fridge. No food was pretty standard when it came to her sister’s kitchen. With Kara’s hectic lifestyle, large appetite and terrible culinary skills, she rarely cooked, preferring to live off take-out. The one thing Kara regularly stocked up on was beer for Alex, for when they shared sister night, but Alex had long since consumed any alcohol that was left over. Sighing in defeat, she closed the fridge door, and considered going back out to re-stock when a photo caught her eye. Ignoring the light dust covering the picture, Alex picked it up. They were all there in the photo, Eliza; Jonn; Winn; James; Alex; Maggie; Clark; Lois; Lena and Kara. All of Kara’s Earth family - well nearly all of them. Alex wondered where her father was now. Did he even know wat had happened with Kara? Surely if he did he would have reached out to her. 

Dismissing the thought, Alex returned to the memory of when the photo had been taken, smiling at how happy Kara had been that day. It was taken last year when they were all there to celebrate Kara’s ‘Earth’ birthday with her. On Krypton it wasn’t custom to celebrate birthdays the way humans did and when Kara had first arrived on Earth, she had been fascinated by the concept. Her adoptive family had quickly decided Kara needed her own birthday and Kara chose the day she landed on Earth and moved in with the Danvers. Brushing her fingers over Kara’s smile, Alex’s attention was drawn to Maggie’s face. 

Shame flooded over Alex as she recalled her behaviour at the DEO. How could she have said such hurtful things to Maggie? But, even now, as she gazed at the photo of those she loved most, anger swelled inside her. Loving one had cost her the other. Kara had left a void in Alex’s life that no-one could ever fill – not even Maggie. The prospect of not being able to share life’s moments with Kara filled Alex with despair. Re-placing the photo, she turned her back, no longer able to look at it. Thoughts of Kara, and of Maggie swirled in her mind as she wandered to the bedroom. Clothes lay strewn over the floor where Kara had a last-minute change of heart all those months ago. Bending down, Alex picked up a sweater, taking in the scent of Kara that still lingered there. As grief overwhelmed her, she curled up on Kara’s bed, hugging the sweater close before crying herself to sleep.

 

Earth 1

Barry was trying to look casual as he loitered on the street by what he hoped was Kara’s apartment building. Two hours in and Barry was sincerely hoping they hadn’t got this wrong. No, he reassured himself, they had done some good solid detective work. Joe would have been proud. After being quizzed by the team for what felt like hours, Barry had remembered the dry-cleaning Kara was carrying had the logo of the store on it. One quick sketch and five stores later, they had tracked down the correct cleaners, who’s assistant had sympathetically handed over Kara’s number after Barry spun a sob story about his missing sister. He had contemplated phoning her, but realised that would have seemed kind of creepy, so instead they tracked her address through her phone contract and he opted for watching her building. After all, what was a day of detective work without a stake-out at the end?

The neighbourhood looked slightly run down. Many of the buildings appeared deserted or derelict, and there was a large amount of graffiti on the walls. A large group of bored looking teenagers were hanging around a suped-up car, occasionally giving Barry the eye, as if trying to figure out what he was doing there. Feeling increasingly nervous about the way they were looking at him, Barry was considering re-locating when a familiar figure turned the corner. Straightening up, Barry watched as a homeless man called out to Kara. She made a bee-line for him, chatting and sharing a joke before handing him a Tupperware container of food. The man smiled fondly as Kara waved goodbye to him. 

Barry saw an opportunity to make contact with her. Stepping out of the shadows, he crossed the street to intercept her. Pretending he didn’t see, he deliberately walked into her.

“Oh, I am so so-“ Kara began before cutting herself off in surprise when she saw Barry. “Hi!”

“Hi!” said Barry, feigning surprise. “Twice in one day, what a coincidence.”

“Yeah. A coincidence.” said Kara, nervously playing with her glasses and glancing at her apartment building.

Knowing how suspicious this must look, Barry decided to dive straight in.

“Do you recognise me?”

Kara looked at him confused, “Of course, I spilt coffee on you this morning.”

“Hey Linda!” called one of the teenagers. “Is that guy bothering you?” 

Now it was Barry’s turn to be confused. “Linda? Who’s Linda?”

Kara smiled at him, “I’m Linda.” The teens had all straightened up, ready to come to the rescue if needed. Turning to face them, Kara reassured them. “No, it’s ok, Ace… he’s not bothering me.” Turning her attention back to Barry and smiling, she added, “Yet.”

Barry frowned, “So your name’s Linda… and you don’t know who I am?”

“Should I?” 

Barry once again noticed a shimmering blue and white light opening up behind Kara. Realising how precarious their situation was, Barry changed tactic.

“Look…Linda…you need to come with me.”

“Um…no, I don’t.” said Kara, taking a small step back.

“No really…I think you should come with me.”

“Why on earth would you think I’d agree to that? Sure you don’t look like a crazy killer person, but I’ve been told I’m a really bad judge of character.” 

“And what do those guys look like?” asked Barry, nodding his head in the direction behind her.

“Those kids? There just…” she began, turning in their direction just in time to see the teenagers scattering as the breech once again spat out figures in black, weapons drawn.  
“Oh. Okaaay…” gulped Kara, “They definitely look like crazy killer guys. Run!”

Barry grinned at her. “You said it.”

 

Cisco span around on his chair, counting as he did, “47…48…49…50!” He tried to stand up and instantly fell head first to the floor of the lab. “I think I’m going to be sick,” he muttered.

“Seriously Cisco?” admonished Caitlin. “Haven’t you anything better to do?”

“No.” grumbled Cisco from the floor. “Waiting for news is the worst!”

“Well you could help me.” 

“Cataloguing? No thanks.”

“Hey!” protested Caitlin. “Cataloguing is very useful. You’ll thank me one day.” 

“I doubt it,” mumbled Cisco as he climbed back into his chair.

Cisco picked up a pen and started tapping it on the desk. Caitlin was coming close to throwing something at him, when a whoosh of air alerted them to Barry’s return.  
Caitlin’s jaw dropped open and Cisco bolted out of his chair as they saw who was with him. 

“Oh my – “ said an astonished Caitlin as Cisco cried, “Kara it is you!”

Kara staggered slightly with dizziness after the abrupt stop from super-speed. Barry quickly clutched her waist, trying to steady her.

“Woah.” said Kara, breathlessly. “What just happened?”

Caitlin, Cisco and Barry gave Kara a moment to clear her dizziness as Kara took in the lab, eyes finally resting on the Flash’s suit in a display case behind them. 

“We were…oh. Oh! You’re –“

The team watched as recognition crept over Kara’s face, her excitement building, as did theirs, thinking she recognised them.

“You’re The Flash!” Kara finally blurted out.

Caitlin, Cisco and Barry felt as though someone had popped a balloon with a pin; all the excitement, suddenly left them in an exhale of air. Slightly embarrassed, Barry rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, yeah.” 

Kara bubbled over with enthusiasm. “Oh my gosh! This is SO cool! I didn’t recognise you without the suit. Of course I didn’t recognise you without the suit on – I mean, why would I?” she asked the team., who shrugged in response. “Wow. You are really, really fast!” she told Barry.

“Thanks.” replied Barry, uncertain of how to respond.

Kara’s enthusiasm continued. “Can I get a photo with you? But like with the suit on?”

Cisco gave Kara a bemused smile. “Are you fan-girling on him right now?”

“What? Nooooo. Nope. I’m totally cool about this.” None of the team were convinced, including Kara.

Laughing at Kara’s excitement, and although he wouldn’t admit it to the team, quite liking the attention, Barry jumped into his suit. Squealing in delight, Kara pulled The Flash in for a couple of selfies.

“Seriously Barry?” reproached Caitlin.

Barry looked at her innocently as he smiled for another picture. “What? It can’t hurt, right?” 

His smile quickly disappeared as Kara took him by surprise and stole a kiss which she captured on her phone. 

“Okay, I think that’s probably enough.” said Barry putting a slight distance between them. “Don’t tell Iris about that one,” he said to Cisco. “Where is she anyway?”

“Joe called her for help with something. She promised to check in later.” Cisco laughed as Kara looked back through her photos’. “I never thought I’d see Supergirl going all red carpet over The Flash.”

Kara looked at him quizzically. “Super – what now?”

“You know, Super – “ began Cisco before Barry quickly cut over him, addressing Kara.

“Maybe you should take a seat and um…oh I know! Are you hungry?” 

“Yes! So hungry.” said Kara as Caitlin pulled out a stool for her. “Because I was late this morning, I had to skip lunch today and - ”

Barry had already zipped away and returned with food.

Kara practically fell out of her chair when she saw what it was. “Pot stickers! AND pizza?!” These are my two absolute favourites.”

“I know. And ice-cream. Don’t forget the ice-cream.” grinned Barry, proudly.

Kara returned his grin with delight. “I love ice-cream….You know? How could you…” She trailed off, placing a slice of pizza back in the box, her smile dropping slightly.

Realising he had slipped up, Barry tried to recover the situation. “Well you see…”

Kara slowly got off her stool as she quickly processed the situation. “Wait. Are you stalking me or something? Is that why you were at my work and then my flat this evening?”

Barry took a step away holding his hands up in defence, “What? No. I’m not stalking you.”

Kara squinted at him, suspiciously. “Does The Flash really mean something totally different to what I thought?”

Barry shook his head in disbelief, “You’ve been listening to Cat Grant too much.”

“Who’s Cat Grant?” questioned Kara. 

Before Barry could respond, Caitlin interjected “Barry, can I have a word?” She pulled Barry to one side, Cisco following.

“May I suggest, before we go any further, we make absolutely sure that’s Kara?” she suggested hesitantly. 

“I know it’s her.” assured Barry.

“Really? Because she seems a little – off.” finished Caitlin, after failing to find a better word.

“Yeah, that’s because you’ve only ever her met her as Supergirl. She’s a bit different when she’s wearing the red and blue.” countered Barry. They watched as Kara, a slice of pizza in hand, pretended to look around the lab whilst she attempted to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Ok, but the scientist in me, just wants to make sure.”

“So, we question her?” asked Cisco.

“But if she does have amnesia,” Barry mouthed the word to prevent Kara from hearing, “questioning Kara probably won’t produce any results.” 

“We could test her powers!” suggested Cisco, eyes lighting up in excitement.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Caitlin, what are you…?” Barry trailed off as Caitlin, picked something off the counter, concealing it in her hand as she approached Kara.  
“Hi Kara,”

Kara swallowed her mouthful of pizza. “It’s Linda, actually.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Linda.” Caitlin gave Barry and Cisco a surprised look before returning her attention to Kara. “My name’s Caitlin and I’m a doctor. When The Flash uses his superspeed with someone, we like to just check they’re ok afterwards. So, would you mind if I just took a sample of your blood?” said Caitlin, improvising an excuse for what she was about to do.

“You think I could be sick?” 

“No, no. It’s just a precaution really.” comforted Caitlin.

“Ok, but I hate needles, so can you make it quick?” Kara held out her arm and turned her face away, squeezing her eyes shut.

After wiping Kara’s arm with an antiseptic wipe, Caitlin produced the syringe she had been concealing, but as she tried to put it in Kara’s arm, as expected, the needle snapped in half. 

“Is it over yet?” asked Kara, eyes still screwed shut.

“Um, not quite, the needle broke. I’m just going to get another. Stay right there.” 

Barry and Cisco converged on Caitlin.

“The needle snapped? That’s proof right? Kara has un-breakable skin.”

“I’m just going to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.” said Caitlin, producing another needle with a slight green tinge to it.

Cisco grinned, “You made a Kryptonite needle?”

“Of course. I was anticipating the likely-hood of having to run some tests if Barry found Kara again, and once we had the Kryptonite weapons, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.” 

“But Kryptonite hurts Kara.” protested Barry.

“In such a small dose, it should be fine.” 

As Barry was about to protest further, Caitlin shushed him as she approached Kara with a needle for the second time. Without further ado, she inserted it into Kara’s arm, eliciting a small squeak from the woman, before filling the vial of blood. Removing the needle, Caitlin gave Kara a plaster before proclaiming, “All done.” She waved the vial of blood at Cisco and Barry before heading straight to a microscope. 

“So…Linda…how long have you lived in the city?” asked Barry, trying to keep Kara occupied whilst Caitlin prepped a slide of Kara’s blood. 

“Not long.” said Kara, rubbing at the plaster on her arm.

“Does that hurt?” queried Barry.

“My arm? A little. I have a very low pain threshold.” 

Cisco snorted with derision, before trying to cover it with a cough at a look from Barry. 

“Barry, can you help me for a second?” called Caitlin from the other side of the lab.

Kara looked over to where Caitlin was bent peering into a microscope. “Is everything ok?” 

“It’s fine,” called back Caitlin without looking up. As Barry went to confer with Caitlin, Cisco tried to discreetly question Kara, whilst all he really wanted to do was look at the slide.  
He positioned himself so Caitlin and Barry were in his line of sight as he asked Kara, “So where did you live before Central city?” 

Barry half tuned out Cisco and Kara as he looked through the microscope at a slide of Kara’s blood. 

“So it’s definitely her?” he asked Caitlin as he stood up.

“I don’t have anything to compare it to, but she’s certainly not human.” 

Barry took this in, “Well that’s good news, right?” 

An alarm suddenly blared throughout the lab, alerting the team to a threat. Cisco immediately turned to the computer screen behind him.

“Talk to me Cisco, what’s happening?” asked Barry as he and Caitlin moved to join Cisco by the console.

Cisco answered whilst analysing the data in front of him. “It appears there are several breeches opening up.”

“Breeches? Where?” 

Cisco frowned as several red dots sprung up on the map in front of him. “Um…here?”

“Here?” exclaimed Caitlin. “As in the lab?” 

Cisco switched to the security feed of S.T.A.R. Labs where they watched as several breeches opened leaving black clad figures with weapons in their wake. Kara peered over their shoulders at the screens.

“Those guys, again? They must really hate you.” 

The team stared at Kara. “You think they’re here for Barry?” asked Caitlin.

“Of course, he’s The Flash. Fighting bad guys is what he does. Who else would they be here for?” 

Barry looked sheepishly at the team, “I may have forgotten to tell you about our last encounter with them.”

“You may have forgotten?” exclaimed Cisco.

“Sorry.” grimaced Barry.

After a moment of silence, whilst they continued to watch the monitors, Barry said “We need to get out of here.” He pulled his mask back over his face.

Caitlin nodded, “Go. Cisco and I can hold them off.”

“Cisco have you got a – “

“Already on it.” responded Cisco as he retrieved a small silver circular device with a blue button in the centre. He threw it over to Barry. 

“What’s this?” he queried, twirling the device around in his fingers.

“Exactly what you need. Now get our girl home.” 

Barry nodded to Cisco in thanks. “Ka – Linda, we need to hide.”

“From those guys?” she asked, gesturing towards the figures on the screen. “Where?”

“Do you trust me?” Barry asked, taking a chance.

Kara searched her feelings for a moment. “Strangely, I do.”

Barry sighed in relief, “Good.” He aimed the button Cisco had provided in front of them and pressed down. A breech rapidly formed. Kara took a slight step back. 

“You want me to go in there?” 

“Trust me.” Barry held a hand out to her.

Kara took a deep breath. “Don’t make me regret this Flash.” She placed his hand in his.

“Tell Iris, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” said Barry to his friends.

"Barry!" called Caitlin. "Take this." She handed him the vial of blood she had just taken. Barry smiled in appreciation, before he and Kara stepped into the breech. 

As they disappeared, Cisco spoke to Caitlin. “And how do you expect us to hold these guys off?”

“I kind of thought we could just hide until they went away.” admitted Caitlin.

“I am so glad you said that.” replied Cisco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara is going home! Finally!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning - some more references to alcoholism at the start of this chapter (first 11 paragraphs or so). 
> 
> Mahoosive thanks to all of you who continue to read, comment and leave kudos. It really is such a huge confidence boost each time.

If truth be told, Maggie was hiding at the DEO. After Alex had stormed out she really didn’t know what to do. A part of her wanted to go after Alex, to scream at her until she listened. To tell her she was a drunk, that she was hurting Maggie. That her behaviour was breaking down their marriage. The softer side of Maggie, the part that hurt, just wanted to hug Alex until she took all the pain away, because Alex meant more to Maggie than her own life, and Alex’s pain was Maggie’s pain. 

But Maggie did neither. Shocked and upset she didn’t move until Winn came to check on her, lending her a shoulder to cry on. Pulling herself together, masking her despair, she had declined his offer and instead asked for work to do. With only a few days until the Presidents order came into effect there was precious little time left to find Kara using the D.E.O. resources.

So here she was, sat alone in the meeting room at the D.E.O, her back to the world hunched over piles of paper in front of her. Winn had thought a detective’s eye looking over all their findings may produce new results. It’s not like Maggie hadn’t tried this before, but she still welcomed the distraction.

As Maggie read a document she practically already knew off heart, she was interrupted by a light knock on the door. Looking up she saw J’onn hovering in the doorway.

“May I come in?” he asked softly.

Maggie nodded slightly, reluctant to see anyone but not wanting to turn him away. J’onn casually sat on the edge of the table, glancing over the papers strewn about the desk. After a few moments, whilst Maggie pretended to read, J’onn got to the reason he was there.

“You know, I’ve seen Alex like this before; drunk, picking fights, acting reckless. She found a way through it then, and she will now.”

A lump formed in Maggie’s throat, tears threatening to spill over again. Alex had told Maggie how she had been before J’onn recruited her into the D.E.O. The wild parties, not going home for days, spending her life in a blur. With hindsight, Alex recognised she felt lost, hiding her pain. Maggie understood J’onn was trying to be kind, to be supportive, but she knew he hadn’t seen the full extent of Alex’s behaviour. This wasn’t like last time. Last time, Kara was here to support Alex, and Alex found the D.E.O. No, this was worse, much worse. 

It had taken Kara disappearing for Maggie to see how unhealthy Alex’s relationship with alcohol was. Every time she was upset she drank. Maggie hadn’t noticed it before because it was always so infrequent, in short spurts, until now. In the last few weeks, since Alex had quit the D.E.O, a job she had absolutely loved until now, it seemed she was always drunk or hungover. They had all tried to persuade her to come back, but without success. Alex had been furious when Maggie refused to turn her back on J’onn and his team, leading to a blazing row about it. It was then Maggie realised Alex had given up. It was also when Maggie decided she wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to give up on Kara, and she certainly wasn’t going to give up on Alex.

Returning her thoughts back to the present, and despite her own reservations, she barely managed to whisper, “I know she will.”

Hearing the hollowness in he own voice, Maggie returned her attention to her work, making it clear this conversation was over. J’onn took the hint, making to leave, when he added, almost as an afterthought, “You know, you spend so much time at the D.E.O. I may as well put you on payroll.”

The sides of Maggie’s mouth tugged up in a small dubious smile, “Are you offering me a job Director J’onzz?”

“Would you take it if I did?”

Maggie didn’t hesitate, “No. I like being a cop too much.” She shook her head at the thought. “Once we… once… things settle down here, I’ll go back to my regular job.”

“Well if you ever get bored of your ‘regular’ job, come fi-“

J’onn was cut off by a harsh alarm sounding through-out the building. He and Maggie hastily made his way to the central hub of the D.E.O. which was suddenly a hive of activity.

“Agent Schott talk to me.” demanded J’onn.

Winn was stood over a computer, rapidly typing as fast as he could, panic seeping into his voice. “Er…I’m not sure…We erm…we have some kind of portal opening!” 

“Where, Agent Schott?” called J’onn over the blare of the alarm.

“Er…right here Sir!”

“Here? Do we know where it’s from?” J’onn asked calmly.

“Afraid not, Sir.”

“Ok. Well let’s be prepared for the worse, people!” J’onn yelled to his well-trained team, who were already in formation in the hub, with more joining them from other areas of the facility. Without a weapon, Winn withdrew to behind the safety of the agents who were all now turning their attention to the bubble of light forming in front of the screens, weapons cocked, ready for any eventuality. The tension in the room was palpable as a wind whipped around the portal, scattering papers off desks.

 

Barry and Kara practically fell out the portal, both stumbling a little as they stepped through, just before it closed. They looked at the wall of data screens in front of them, confused.   
“Erm, Barry? Where are we?” queried Kara.  
“I don’t know,” puzzled Barry. “I thought we were – “  
They both startled at a sound behind them, spinning round to face the noise and immediately throwing their hands up in surrender.  
“- Woah, guys!” Barry, practically yelled.   
The agents stared in shock at the two figures in front of them, whilst Barry and Kara equally stared in shock at the multitude of weapons pointed in their direction. Winn, leaving his tablet computer where he had dropped it, immediately barrelled his way through the agents before almost knocking Kara off her feet with a tight hug.  
“Oh!” Kara cried in surprise. She threw a bewildered look towards Barry, who wasn’t sure how he could help. Kara slowly lowered her arms to awkwardly pat Winn on the back in comfort.  
Barry pulled his Flash mask off gesturing for the team to lower their weapons. “Guys, can you… you know?”  
J’onn was rarely rattled, but on this occasion, it took him a moment to process Barry’s request. After a second look from Barry which seemed to ask what are you waiting for, J’onn gestured for his agents to stand down. Maggie stood in astonishment. As J’onn stepped forward to embrace Kara, her brain slowly slipped into gear. She stepped quietly off to one side, retrieved her phone from her pocket with trembling hands, and pulled up Alex’s number. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves she hit the call button.

 

Alex sleepily reached towards the bedside table for the alarm going off. Fumbling she found some buttons hitting them once, twice, three times. Why wasn’t it turning off? It was so loud! Half opening her eyes, wincing at the pain in her head, she tried to make out the numbers on the clock. Was that a 3 or an 8? Did she care? At least that damn alarm had gone off. Rolling over, smacking her lips as if seeking moisture for her dry mouth, Alex buried her face back in the pillow, just as the alarm started going off again. Groaning in frustration, she rolled over hitting the buttons once more. When the noise didn’t stop, she grabbed the clock, yanking it off the table and threw it across the room in frustration. As it smashed into pieces on the floor, Alex became aware of a tingling in her butt. Groping at her back pocket, she felt the familiar shape of her phone vibrating. Realising this was the real source of the racket and feeling foolish she peered at it to see Maggie’s name flashing on the screen. The previous days events washed over her, leaving her with a sense of dread at the prospect of facing Maggie. Alex let the phone ring off, before placing it face down on the bed. It immediately began ringing again. She was about to turn her phone off, when seeing the number of missed calls from Maggie, she had a change of heart. It wasn’t fair to leave her wife worrying about her.

“Maggie, I really don’t feel like talk-“ Alex paused at the serious tone in Maggie’s voice. Sitting up on the bed, she listened as Maggie explained why she was phoning. Her breathing became heavy as the room began to spin around her, she couldn’t breathe. She slowly let the phone drop, faintly hearing Maggie’s voice calling her name, but Alex wasn’t listening anymore. Kara was back. 

 

Maggie was growing increasingly concerned by Alex’s non-responsiveness, repeatedly calling Alex’s name until she heard a fumbling sound as the phone was retrieved, and a whispered, “I’m coming.” Satisfied, Alex was ok and making her way to the D.E.O. Maggie turned her attention back to the scene unfolding in front of her. There was a sense of jubilation at the agency; Kara was being given one hug after another; agents were patting one another on the back. The relief at having Kara back was consuming them all. 

Maggie had never met Barry before, but she had instantly recognised his costume from stories Alex and Kara had told her. Right now, he looked a little uncomfortable, trying to find a way to interrupt the celebrations, whilst Kara was grinning in a kind of terrified way. Maggie couldn’t wait any longer. Wanting to greet Kara herself, she made her way back to the group. As an agent finished patting Kara on the back, Kara briefly caught Maggie’s eyes, causing Maggie to stop in her tracks. That look. Kara’s body language. Something wasn’t right. Kara turned her attention back to Barry. 

“Everyone’s really friendly here.” she said to Barry, a smile plastered to her face.

Barry finally saw an opportunity to intervene as Winn moved to go in for a second squeeze. 

“Okay. That’s enough.” He said, putting himself between Kara and the agent.

“Barry.” Kara said sweetly, jerking her head away from the others indicating she wanted to talk. “Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer the hugging to the whole guns pointing at us thing, but it’s kind of weird now. Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Barry nodded in understanding, trying to find the right words. “I can explain…”

“And everyone keeps calling me Kara. Who on earth’s Kara?” she said in a none too quiet whisper.

Kara’s last comment elicited troubled frowns from her friends.

“Are you space sick or something?” queried Winn. “You know, from the portal?”

Looking at Barry, Kara asked “I don’t know, am I?”

“No, you’re not.” 

Returning her attention back to Winn she answered, “No, I’m not.”

Winn looked utterly bewildered as he looked Kara and Barry, to Maggie and J’onn who’s faces had dropped. 

“Then why are you acting – “

Barry cut him off. “I’ll explain everything, but first - ”

For the second time of the hour an alarm rang out. 

“We have another portal opening!” called an agent.

“Seriously?” cried Winn incredulously, before muttering “I really need to increase our defences.”

A portal began to take shape exactly where Kara and Barry had appeared. The agents began to form up again.

Barry sighed, “Not again. I thought we’d outrun these guys.”

J’onn raised an eyebrow in question at Barry. Opening his mouth to explain, Barry stopped as a completely unexpected form appeared through the portal. 

“Oh! We did!” he smiled happily.

The alien couldn’t be more stereotypical if it tried. Small, skinny, hairless, elongated fingers, bulbous head, big dark eyes. 

Not sensing any threat from this little alien, Winn laughed in astonishment. “Hey there E.T… Nano, Nano.” he joked. 

Speaking was clearly the wrong thing to do. The alien opened its mouth wide, revealing rows of sharp serrated teeth and let out a deafening roar, before it began to grow. No longer a fragile looking petite alien, the team now faced an alien that looked like a 9ft heavyweight champion. 

Winn stepped back in fright, before Maggie grabbed him by his shoulder pushing him behind her, “Speaking was not the right strategy here. I see that now.”

Agents aimed their weapons at this new threat, none firing until either the alien made the first aggressive move or J’onn gave the order. Letting out another roar the alien rushed forward swatting agents out of the way like flies as they fired off their weapons. In an instant, J’onn had transformed into his stronger Martian form meeting the alien head-on. Dipping and weaving, J’onn dodged punch after punch whilst throwing his own but with little effect. As the Martian phased in and out, his giant opponent spun in confusion until it’s quick reflexes grabbed J’onn by his throat and threw him like a rag doll into a wall on the opposite side of the room near Kara. 

Seeing J’onn currently out of action, Barry began to run circles around the alien, picking up speed, trying to generate enough of an electric charge to throw a lightening bolt. Increasing his speed, Barry could feel the electricity growing with him, flowing over him until he threw his arm forward directing the electricity towards the alien and hitting him full force in his torso. Barry watched as the alien staggered back slightly before shrugging off the electric shock and leaping towards Barry punching him across the floor towards where J’onn was still crumpled on the floor, Kara kneeling over him. 

Winded, Barry struggled to sit up. Kara left J’onn and crouched by Barry, concern on her face.

“Barry, what can I do?”

Seeing over Kara’s shoulder the alien advancing on them, Barry gave her one instruction, “Hide.” 

Maggie and the team fired round after round at the alien as it bore down on where Barry, J’onn and Kara were on the floor. The noise of gunshots filled the air and despite not having any visible effect the team continued to fire. Maggie saw Barry slowly stand, whilst Kara ducked behind a nearby desk. 

“Winn! We’re going to need a bigger gun!” Maggie yelled to where Winn was trying to help a fallen agent. 

After checking the agent really was ok, Winn ran in the opposite direction of the fight, dodging friendly fire in the pursuit of Maggie’s request. Back on his feet Barry used his speed to run to Maggie’s side.

“Please tell me you have a plan.” he asked her.

“More firepower?” shrugged Maggie helplessly.

“Until we can think of something better it will have to do.” Barry returned to firing off lightening bolts as frequently as possible at the alien, hoping to wear the creature down, when in reality it was the Barry and the D.E.O. being worn down. Seeing Winn reappear from the direction of the weapons room, Maggie felt a spark of hope which was quickly extinguished.

“You call that gun bigger?!” shouted Maggie over the noise, looking disbelievingly at here Winn held in his hand a pistol smaller than her handgun. He shouted something in response before waving the gun in her direction, indicating he wasn’t going to use it. As if taking a bowling stance, Winn took a couple of steps forward, almost going to one knee as he released the weapon, sliding it across the floor towards Maggie, but with too much force. Time seemed to slow as she watched the gun slide straight past her, before her world was inexplicably turned upside-down. She hadn’t even felt the hit from the alien, but she sure felt it as her back made contact with the hard floor, feeling all the air leave her lungs. 

“HEY!” shouted an angry voice, cutting over the cacophony of noise “NO-ONE HITS MY WIFE!” 

Alex stood in the entrance of the D.E.O. a tight-spring of fury, looking like she owned the room. Winn gave a little fist-pump and cheer at the site of her, Barry came to a sudden halt, sweat dripping from his effort as he tried to catch his breath, relieved to see some form of back-up. Making sure she had the alien’s attention, Alex sprang into action, snatching a gun from a nearby slumped agent. She fired off multiple direct hits at the alien whilst running across the D.E.O. to where Maggie was still on the floor. Sliding next to her, she fired her last round at the alien, aiming for it’s head. Catching a bullet in the eye, the alien bellowed in pain, falling to it’s knees. 

From her hiding place, Kara watched in awe. “Who is that?” she asked the agent next to her in wonderment. “She is so badass!” The agent looked at her strangely before returning his attention to the action, not bothering to answer her question. 

Kara could see the newcomer, tenderly cradling the head of the woman she presumed to be her wife, – Maggie was it? The alien rose from his knees behind them, throwing off the men and women trying to subdue it, including Barry. One eye a gooey mess, the alien stalked towards the two women, who were lost in one-another. Instinct kicking in, Kara didn’t hesitate. Rising from her hiding place, she ran into the path of the alien, shouting a warning to the women on the floor, “Look out!” 

Alex spun round in shock at the voice, just in time to see Kara being inconsequentially batted away, crashing on a desk before it split and she fell through it. Rage burned inside Alex. 

“Alex!” came Winn’s voice from her over her left shoulder, right before he threw the tiny almost forgotten gun to her. With lightening reflexes Alex caught the gun.

“And no-one touches my sister.” she told the alien with a quiet fury before aiming and firing. The gun may have been physically small but it packed one hell of a punch, causing a small concussion wave that knocked anyone standing to the floor – including Alex. The alien disappeared before their eyes in a shower of dust. 

Tucking the gun in the back of her belt, Alex checked on Maggie who was slowly sitting up. Satisfied she was ok, Alex turned her attention to the one person she had been praying to see again. She half-ran to where Kara had fallen, worried by what she would find. Kara was lying face first on the floor, not moving, the desk broken around her. Alex felt sick. Kneeling next to Kara she gently brushed the blonde hair away from her face.

“Kara? Kara, please wake up. Kara!” Relief flooded her as Kara groaned and rolled over. Alex’s face was a mask of concern, as Kara squinted un-focused eyes at her.

“You were so cool.” she whispered before promptly passing out again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I suck at writing fights. I've never been in one, or even thrown a punch, so although I can see it all in my head, I find it really hard to describe. It took me absolutely forever just to write that small sequence. I did my best and I hope it wasn't too cringeworthy!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, so late - sorry everyone! I hope it's worth the wait. Please continue to leave kudos, suggestions, comments, critique - all are welcome!

Alex sat listening to the steady beat of the heart monitor, her eyes fixed to her sisters form in front of her, looking for the slightest hint of change in her status. She gripped Kara’s hand tightly, trying to reassure herself this was real. Kara was real and really here. All of the despair from the past few months was melting away, and although not quite all the worry, Alex had to admit Kara looked surprisingly well. The tests the med team had been able to run so far had come back normal. Kara was perfectly fit and healthy, completely different to how Alex had last seen her. Kara’s wounds had all healed, no sign of them left; she looked well rested and well fed. All of Alex’s fears about what state she would find Kara in seemed to be just that – fear. Physically Kara was good, although the fact she hadn’t woken up since the fight in the main hub was cause for concern. 

In her state of vigil, Alex didn’t hear the door quietly swish open and closed, but subconsciously feeling a change in the air, she wasn’t surprised when Maggie lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. Clutching her hand, Alex leaned back into the comfort of her wife. All of their heartache and pain momentarily forgotten. 

“How’s she doing?” queried Maggie quietly.

Alex thought about her sister’s condition. “I’m not sure.” she replied, honestly. “From what we’ve been able to check, she seems fine, but it’s not like her to go down so easily, or to stay down. Speaking of…”Alex turned a concerned look to her wife, “How are you doing? You took a hard hit.”

Maggie smiled at Alex’s concern for her. “I’m fine, had worse.”

Alex cocked a suspicious eyebrow towards her. “Really?” She fully faced the petite brunette, wrapping her arms around Maggie’s waist causing the woman to wince slightly. Quickly pulling away Alex admonished her. “You should be in bed resting.”

“Alex,” said Maggie softly, “I’m fine. I wanted to be here, with you and Kara.”

Alex relented, knowing she would never win the argument and not really wanting to anyway. For a reason she couldn’t quite put her finger on, Alex was a little nervous about Kara waking up and having Maggie by her side when she did would help. Alex turned her attentions back to Kara’s silent form as Maggie pulled a chair up alongside the bed. They sat quietly for a moment, each woman deciding how they wanted to voice their concerns. In the end, it was Alex who spoke first.

“How did she seem? When you saw her, how was she?”

Maggie considered the question carefully, running her mind over everything Kara had said and done since she appeared through the portal. “I’m not sure.” she finally confessed.

Alex frowned in her direction. “What do you mean? Did she seem happy? Sad? What did she say?”

“She seemed…confused.” 

“Confused?” puzzled Alex.

Maggie considered her next words carefully, “Look Alex, I don’t –“

Maggie was cut off as the door to the med-bay opened and J’onn entered, followed by Winn and Barry. Alex immediately rushed over to Barry, engulfing him in a tight hug. She had overheard enough at the D.E.O. to know Barry was the reason Kara was home. That it was he who had brought her back. 

“Thank you.” She whispered, knowing as long as she lived, she could never repay him. Barry held her tight, until Alex was ready to let go.

“She hasn’t woken up yet?” asked a concerned J’onn.

Maggie and Alex both shook their heads, all eyes turning to the comatose blonde in the bed. 

Barry cleared his throat, drawing their attention. “Alex, there is something I need to tell you. Something you all need to know.”

At the seriousness of Barry’s voice,. Alex unconsciously searched for Maggie’s hand, as a sense of dread filled her stomach. Quickly feeling fingers interlocking with hers, she relaxed slightly at the touch.

Swallowing his nerves, knowing this would be a difficult conversation Barry carefully considered how to break the news. “In all the confusion before, I didn’t get the chance to tell you how I found Kara.” 

The quiet in the room was almost deafening as the team waited for Barry to continue, each person’s fears playing through their minds.

“She was in Central City – my Central City, on Earth One, but when I saw her she didn’t recognise me.” He paused, letting that sink in before continuing. “We were interrupted by an attack and I lost her. Once we found her again, I brought her back to Star Labs to confirm who she was and to bring her home. But Kara still didn’t know who any of us were.”

“That’s why she was weird when you arrived.” realised Winn.

Barry continued, “She says her name is Linda Lee, and she moved to the city a short while ago. ”

“Are you saying that’s not Kara?” asked J’onn slowly.

Maggie felt Alex’s grip tighten on her hand, her whole body tense as she quietly listened.

“No, I think it is. Caitlin took a blood sample, definitely alien DNA.” He dug into the pocket of his D.E.O. slacks and produced a small vial which he handed to Winn.

“But if Caitlin took blood…”

“She used Kryptonite.” he added quickly, “Just a tiny amount, on a needle - the first needle snapped.”

“That still doesn’t mean…” Winn trailed off not wanting to finish the sentence. “There are 53 different Earths, 53 different versions of each of us.”

J’onn didn’t give time for the thought to sink in. “Winn, run a DNA test immediately. We need to be absolutely sure –“

“We don’t need a DNA test.” cut in Alex.

“Alex, if what Barry –“

“No.” said Alex firmly, letting go of Maggie’s hand, jaw set in determination. “I know my sister.”

“Alex – “

She quickly moved over to Kara’s bed, stroking her sister’s forehead where a small scar dented her near perfect skin. “This. Kara got this scar at home on Krypton. She had been over-excited and running around at home, hiding from her father when she tripped, hitting her head on the corner of a table. She remembers it, because one of her father’s awards from the science guild fell off and smashed, and she was so scared he would be angry with her. But he wasn’t, he told her it was an ugly award anyway and he’d been looking for a way to get rid of it. And this scar here,” she continued, moving to the base of Kara’s left foot, gently stroking, “This she got when she stepped on an Agralanien Sea Crab when she was four. She says that is one of her earliest memories.” 

Suddenly Kara’s left foot jerked a little. Alex half-laughed. “And she’s ticklish. So, ticklish. I don’t need a DNA test to know this is my sister.” 

Alex made her way to the head of the bed, gently stroking Kara’s face, encouraging her to wake up. “C’mon Kara, it’s Alex, you can wake up now. I’m here, everything’s going to be ok. I just need you to open your eyes, ok?”

The team shared a look which Alex caught. “What?” she snapped at them.

J’onn took a step forward. “If this is Kara –“

“It is.” Alex interrupted.

“- but she thinks her name is Linda, and she didn’t recognise Barry or any of us…” J’onn trailed off, letting Alex connect the dots on her own. 

“You think she’s got amnesia.” 

“It’s possible.”

Alex shook her head in defiance. “No. She’ll know me. She’ll know me.” insisted Alex. “She has to.” Alex looked to each of the team, seeking assurance from the, from any of them, confirmation she was right. Eyes resting on Maggie, she found what she needed, a small nod of agreement as the woman made her way to her side. Always there, always supporting her no matter what.

A slight movement from Kara had them all rushing to her bedside. Alex gently stroked her cheek, encouraging Kara to open her eyes, Maggie stood beside her ready for whatever happened next. Barry and Winn on the opposite side of the bed and J’onn at the foot. All waited with bated breath as Kara’s eyelids began to flicker as she struggled to regain consciousness. Alex continued to coax Kara awake, by letting Kara feel her hand on her face, and by continually talking softly to her. Kara’s head turned towards Alex, listening.

“Hey.” smiled Alex.

Kara blinked a few times, pulling her eyes into focus. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, as if she was trying to remember how it moved. “Hey.” she finally said, in a slightly groggy voice. The team smiled at one-another with relief. She was awake and talking at least.

“How are you feeling?” probed Maggie.

Kara closed her eyes again, as she thought about the question. She was quiet for so long, they thought she’d fallen asleep again. Alex was about to prompt Kara, when the blonde opened her eyes again. “A little fuzzy. Very sore. What happened?”

“The D.E.O was attacked.” explained Winn.

Kara slowly nodded, “Attacked.” She mulled the word over. “Attacked.” Suddenly her eyes flew wide as she bolted up in bed, yanking the heart monitor wires off with the movement and scaring the hell out of everyone. “Attacked!” She yelled. “There was an alien! We’ve been invaded by aliens?! And ow!” she finished, wincing at the pain in her head from the sudden movement, before hitting Barry on the arm.

“Ow!” he yelled in surprise. “What was that for?”

“You brought me to somewhere that’s been invaded by aliens?” she admonished him.

Barry swallowed guiltily, “Not exactly.”

“Boy, are you in for a surprise.”

“Not now Winn.” J’onn told him crossly.

He turned the heart monitor off so they didn’t have to listen to the steady whine of a flatline. The shock the team had felt when Kara sat up was quickly dissipating and being replaced with disappointment. The more Kara spoke, the clearer it was becoming she really didn’t know who she was. Maggie put a tight arm around Alex, knowing how much the woman would be struggling with the reality in front of her.

“You really should be lying down.” offered Alex, quietly.

Kara turned her attention to Alex. Recognition crossed her face as she said a little in awe, “And you, you stopped it, the alien. You were totally amazing. And that move! Where did you learn that?”

A small smile crept on each of the teams faces. Kara gushing over Alex was just so, Kara. All smiled, except Alex that is. Alex stared blank faced at her sister, searching those cerulean eyes for any sign Kara knew who she was. Not seeing any recognition, she forced a smile on her face.

“Well, you actually.”

Everyone’s smile’s suddenly faltered. Everyone but Alex. Kara’s brow crinkled in confusion. “Me? I don’t understand.” 

“Alex are you sure this is -?”

Ignoring J’onn, Alex focused on Kara and only Kara. “Kara, you –“

Kara immediately cut her off. “I keep telling everyone, I’m not Kara. My name is Linda.”

Alex took Kara’s hands in hers, forcing her voice to remain calm, gentle. “No it’s not. Your name is Kara Danvers, and you’re my sister.”

Kara slowly pulled her hands away from Alex. “What are you talking about?” She looked in bafflement at the strangers surrounding her bed. 

“It’s true Kara.” Barry looked at her with seriousness. “You have some kind of amnesia.”

Kara laughed but stopped when she realised no-one was laughing with her. “You’re serious?” she asked in disbelief. “Well you’re wrong.” she protested. “And, I can prove it. My name is Linda Lee, I live at apartment 224B on the corner of Elmo and Fry in Central City.” Seeing she wasn’t convincing anyone she ploughed on. “I’ve just moved there, so I haven’t actually finished un-packing yet.”

“And before that?” asked Maggie.

“Before what?” said Kara innocently.

“Before you moved there, where did you live?”

“Well, I…” Kara paused, trying to remember, “I lived in…in Kansas.”

“What about your parents?” pressed Maggie.

“What about them?” countered Kara, defensively.

“Is that who you lived with, in Kansas?”

“No. I don’t…” Kara faltered again. “I don’t remember my parents. They left me when I was very young.”

“No Kara, they didn’t. Your parents died when you were twelve. That’s when your cousin Clark, brought you to live with my family.”

“You’re wrong.” insisted Kara.

“I remember how you used to pretend to be so brave, but at night, when you thought no-one was listening, you used to cry. You had just lost your home, your family, and you felt alone. So I started reading you Harry Potter until you fell asleep each night. We read nearly the entire series that way. Deciding which houses we would be in – you were Hufflepuff, I was Ravenclaw.”

“Really?” cut in Winn. “I always saw you as a Gryffindor.”

J’onn and Maggie glared at Winn for interrupting.

Kara slipped off the bed, pacing as she considered what they were saying to her. Not because she believed these strangers, but because they seemed nice enough and they were clearly hurting. After a moment of not being able to find any connection to what they were saying she faced them. 

“Look, I’m sorry you thought I was Kara,” she said to them all. “And I’m really sorry you can’t find your sister, I can’t imagine how hard that must be, but I’m not her. I have a life in Central City. Well a job…still…I hope.” she corrected. “And even though my boss is super scary, I like my job. I need my job, and I need to get back there. So if someone could please just bring me my clothes? And then Barry, you can take me home.”

Kara stood by the door, looking desperately at the crestfallen faces around her as Barry quietly said, “I already did.”

Kara turned her attention to Barry, sympathy written all over his face. Glaring defiantly at him, she abruptly turned on her heels to leave. She would go home with or without his help, and without her clothes if need be. Holding those hostage, wasn’t going to stop her. A hospital gown would be just fine for now.

The team stood in shock, not knowing how to salvage the situation. Each running through their options. Unless they could convince Kara to stay, there seemed only one solution. To use Kryptonite to restrain Kara, and no one wanted to go down that route.

“Three days!” blurted Alex in a last-ditch attempt to get her to stay. “Please, just give us three days to show you this is where you belong.”

“Alex.” warned J’onn. Making promises they might not be able to keep, was not a good idea.

Alex didn’t care. She couldn’t lose Kara again, not now, not like this. “If we can’t convince you in three days, Barry will take you back to Central City.”

Winn let out an exhale of air at the implications of those words, whilst Maggie and J’onn watched the exchange with concern. Alex looked to Barry for confirmation, who nodded his agreement to both her and Kara. Kara could see the desperation in these people, how could she just walk away? Would they even let her, or would they hound her forever? Always trying to convince her she’s someone she’s not.

“I promise.” added Alex, as if reading her thoughts.

Surely staying in the short term had to be better than being harassed in the long term. “Fine. But only three days.” relented Kara. “And you have to call me Linda.” she added as an afterthought.

The entire group sighed with relief. Alex had bought them some time. Now all they had to do was convince someone with amnesia they had an entirely forgotten life, or find a cure. Either way, it was going to be a tough few days.

“Now can I have my clothes? And a phone, please? I think I left mine at Star Labs and I need to phone work.”

J’onn, Alex and Maggie looked expectantly to Winn who was grinning like a Cheshire cat at Kara. Noticing the others staring at him he suddenly registered Kara’s request. “Oh, you need a…right, one inter-dimensional telephone coming right up!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, firstly and foremost sorry for the delayed post. I hade the next two chapters written but decided I needed to introduce the threat, and this felt like the right time to insert an extra chapter. When I first wrote this story, it was in a completely different format, and all these characters were introduced in a very different way. I then had writers block on this chapter for about three weeks and almost gave up, but still felt now was the time and so persisted until some inspiration came. The result is below. It's not much, but it's a start.

There was nothing Kiel hated more than sitting around a desk talking. He was a man of action and the more they discussed strategies and made plans the more restless and bored he became. He had come here to do a job, they all had, but so far it was proving more difficult than they had anticipated.

He was one of eighteen members of the clandestine group called the Shirqoolka, and despite the hardships they had all been through, and the seriousness of the mission, Kiel was in the best place he had ever been – both physically and mentally. He was relishing his time with this group. They gave him purpose again and dare he say, hope? Despite that, there were too many meetings in his opinion and although he understood the necessity they were still boring. He tuned out the discussions taking place as he gazed around his surroundings. The underground bunker they had encamped in was so large it was easy to forget where they were. They called it a bunker, but it was more like a penthouse, or what he imagined a penthouse to be like. With plush sofas, high-tech equipment, entertainment facilities, and most impressive of all, huge floor to ceiling screens around the room which could simulate daylight. He had never seen anything like it. Whoever owned this place must be loaded. 

Letting his gaze flitter over the group dressed in black sat around the large glass table, he pondered who that might be. One of them here either owned this bunker or had connections to the person who did. Most people in the group were using pseudonyms, preferring anonymity to protect those they loved. Of course, it was also to protect the group if any of them should be captured. The less they knew about one another the better. On the other hand, to work as a team, they needed to bond, so each had shared their story or a version of it at one point or another. There were of course slight differences, but most were stories of how they had lost someone to the hands of that monster.

Keil often wondered about who they had each been before this all began. It was hard to remember how life had been, and being here was somewhat unsettling for them all, but the daydreaming helped Keil pass the time when they had meetings like this one. Some of the group were clearly used to sitting in big meetings, but not him. He was more used to being outdoors, being practical, hands-on. In another life he had been an army instructor, before the army had been obliterated of course. Now? Well now, he wasn’t much different, except there was no army, just a small, desperate group of people trying to stop Supergirl from ending the world. That part wasn’t going too well. An angry voice cut across his thoughts.

“We’ve lost her? Again?” questioned one of the group with a hard edge to their voice. Peter was it?

A dark form at the end of the table who had given the debrief nodded in confirmation. “The speedster was there again. Somehow they created their own portal.”

“How?”

“How they did it doesn’t matter, but where they went does.”

“She’ll be at the D.E.O,“ came a voice from the back of the room. The woman, Briana she said her name was, stepped forward from where she had been observing the discussions. She often did this, walking around rather than sit with the rest. Kiel liked her. Clearly, she was a woman of action which appealed to him. Smart, proactive, classy, but dark. She had a cool detachment to the world that was frightening. Out of everyone here, she was the one he knew the least about and therefore found the most intriguing. He made a mental note to pierce that cold exterior and find out more.

“The speedster, The Flash, came to our Earth once. Remember?” She probed. “He worked with Supergirl. befriended her. If he’s found her, there is no way he wouldn’t take her home.”

Peter, ever the pessimist, shook his head in disbelief. “So let me get this straight, we finally managed to get Supergirl away from her support system, almost killed her but she escaped, she then disappears for months and when we find her she’s alone in a different universe, where we fail to kill her again and now she’s back at the D.E.O. the place she is strongest, surrounded by friends and family and we still think we can kill her?”

“Actually, yes, but we need to stop rushing in. We need to strategize, look at this from every angle.” countered Briana. 

“What about the other guy? Knoxx?” cut in another member of the group, before Briana could continue.

Knoxx had been a surprise, an element they hadn’t factored in. They knew very little about him and had not been prepared for when he aided Supergirl. Since the morning of their first attack he had completely disappeared, much like Supergirl had until recently. Kiel had no doubt that with the Girl of Steel’s reappearance, would come Knoxx’s too. How he was linked to her they didn’t know, but the little they did know suggested he was just as dangerous. 

“We have little intelligence on him so we need to find some. What is his connection to Supergirl? What is he really here for? We know he will return soon so let’s be prepared for him. And, if I’m correct Supergirl is vulnerable right now - actually at her weakest. We are never going to beat her in strength but we can defeat her with good tactics. She isn’t invincible, despite what we were told. The more knowledge we have, the more powerful we are. Remember why we chose now. This is when the game changes, and despite some surprises, we are steps ahead of Supergirl. We will keep coming and they cannot stop us”

Kiel nodded his head in agreement along with the rest of the group. She was right. They had the advantage, and nothing was going to stop them from completing their mission. Peace would only arrive, when Supergirl lay dead at their feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is up straight away, and we are back at the DEO. 
> 
> BTW, apologies if my formatting keeps changing. Think I need to go back and tidy up my postings! Oh and Knoxx is not to be confused with Season 1's Ethan Knox.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this next chapter makes up for the rubbish that was chapter 8 ; )

Kara meandered down to the big circular table in the middle of the D.E.O. the one where she and Barry had arrived. The whole area had been cleared up since the earlier fight, and people were quietly going about their work again as if nothing unusual had happened. Maybe it hadn’t, thought Kara. This was clearly some kind of government facility and maybe portals and aliens were just part of their everyday lives. 

It hadn’t escaped her attention that people had been more surprised by hers and Barry’s arrival than an alien in their midst. Even now, she kept catching people surreptitiously stealing glances her way. Completely different behaviour to the over-the-top reception they had received when they first arrived. Where was Barry anyway? Out of everyone she’d met so far, he was the one who made her feel most at ease. The only one who wasn’t trying to pressure her into being someone she’s not. Although, he had sided with the others in the med bay. Maybe they were right, maybe she did have amnesia. But no. None of this felt real. Her life however, her memories, they were real, even if some were a little fuzzy. Surely, if what they were saying was true, she’d feel something for these people? Something deep down would recognise them, or this building. Which, Kara had to admit, was pretty cool. She continued to gaze at her surroundings, trying, just a little, to find some semblance of recognition - just in case.

Alex leaned against a desk, trying to look causal as she watched Kara taking in the D.E.O. on her approach. It reminded her of the first time Kara had seen the bright offices, after having spent a year in the caves on their secondary site. Alex watched as Kara spotted her, clearly hesitating, before deciding she would come and join the older woman. Standing a little straighter, Alex tried to ignore the fact her head was pounding. She wasn’t sure if it was a hangover, or the fact her face still hurt from the barfight, or the stress of Kara’s return. Maybe it was all three. Whatever the cause, she needed some painkillers, or even better a drink. No, not a drink. She needed a clear head if she was going to help Kara and if that meant going sober, cold turkey, then so be it. 

Alex took a deep breath, before holding out a take-away coffee-cup to her sister. “I thought you might want a coffee.”

“Thank you.” Kara said shyly. She took a sip, an expression of surprise as the flavours filled her mouth.

“Pumpkin Spice Latte with extra foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon.” stated Alex.

Kara didn’t bother to ask how Alex had known her go-to coffee of choice. She knew where the question would lead and wasn’t ready to have that conversation again. Instead she quietly resumed her observations of the activity around her, her shyness winning over any curiosity about the woman who claims to be her sister.

Slightly disappointed Kara hadn’t taken the bait, but having witnessed Kara’s stubborn side far too often, Alex knew trying to beat her sister about the head with information of her life was not the best way to convince her. Instead she needed to try a subtler approach, to break through Kara’s shyness to get her to open up, just like all those years ago when they had first met. 

“So, how was your boss?” Kara had just come from making her phone call. Winn really was a genius, although Alex suspected he had already been working on a cross-dimensional telephone, otherwise they were all greatly underestimating how intelligent he is. Surely, no-one can create something like that in under an hour?

“Exactly how I thought it would be.” sighed Kara, dejectedly. “Pretty horrible - she hung up on me. I’m not sure she bought my whole long-lost dead family, not so dead or lost story.” 

Alex struggled to suppress her smile with a look of feigned concern. Kara had always been a terrible liar. Catching Alex’s amusement Kara explained, “Being sick wouldn’t have been good enough.”

Rolling her eyes at how familiar this all sounded where Kara was concerned Alex asked, “And you work for this woman because…?”

Kara’s face suddenly lit up in a way Alex hadn’t seen in far too long. There she was, the Kara, Alex knew and loved. God, she had missed her sister. “Because she’s brilliant and I respect her, and despite her frosty exterior, I think Ms Luthor really cares.”

Alex choked on her coffee, almost spitting it over Kara, whose eyes flung open in alarm. “Are you ok? Do you want some water?” she asked as she patted Alex’s back. 

“Ms Luthor? As in Lena Luthor?” sputtered Alex.

Kara nodded. “Do you know her?”

Alex tried to calm her surprise, “Sort of. And you work for her? Doing what?” 

Kara smiled, she liked talking about her job. She was proud of her work. “Well, she’s head of the science division at her family’s company, Luthor Corp. I’m just one of her junior apprentices, but I get to work with some of the best scientists in the world and we’re doing some really cutting-edge work. Ms Luthor is a genius.” 

Alex stared at her sister, basking in that sunny smile of hers. Science had always been a passion for both herself and Kara, and although Kara didn’t pursue it on Earth, finding earth science far too primitive, it had once been her vocation on Krypton. The Danvers had always been acutely aware the young Kryptonian’s intelligence far surpassed anyone on Earth, but not wanting to draw attention to herself, Kara had chosen to keep that side of herself hidden. And yet, here it was, sneaking its way out in the most unexpected way.

Kara paused when she noticed Alex’s expression of, what? Admiration? Wonder? Love? “What?” she asked.

“You just never cease to amaze me.” smiled Alex.

Kara turned slightly away from Alex, fiddling with her glasses, causing Alex’s smile to drop, heart clenching as she automatically reached a hand out, quickly pulling away again before making contact. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” deflected Kara, trying to offer Alex a reassuring smile.

“You’re fiddling with your glasses.” 

Kara immediately dropped her hand, wrapping it around her coffee cup. “Habit.” she muttered.

Alex couldn’t help herself. It was moments like these that might convince Kara of who she was, of who Alex was to her. “A habit you have when you are nervous or uncomfortable.” 

Kara grew very quiet, staring so intently at her coffee cup she could have bore a hole into it, with or without laser vision. She suddenly felt exposed. How did Alex know so much about her? A little sliver of doubt crept into Kara’s consciousness. They couldn’t be telling the truth, surely. Frightened by the thought and its implications Kara was grateful when the tech guy, Winn, approached them.

“I thought I might find you crazy kids down here!” quipped Winn as he spied Alex and Kara. “So, what’s up?” he asked cheerily.

Kara liked Winn. He had a slight awkwardness Kara could identify with and a light-heartedness about him which put her at ease. Why he was working with such serious people was beyond her understanding, but then maybe that wasn’t fair. Everyone she had met so far had been very nice, if a little tense.

“Well,” said Alex, putting on a cheery tone, “Ka – Linda was just telling me about her work in the science division at Luthor Corp.

Winn’s eyebrows shot up at hearing the familiar name.

“She works directly with Lena Luthor.” finished Alex, pointedly. 

“Reeaally?” asked Winn, eyes narrowing knowingly. “Well then,” he addressed Kara, “maybe you can help me with some of our science stuff whilst you’re here. ‘Science stuff’ makes it sound a lot less high-tech and un-important than it really is, and I’m not sure we are quite as high-tech as Luthor Corp, but we try.”

“Don’t sell yourself short Winn. You could give Lena Luthor a run for her money any day.” 

Winn beamed at the unusual compliment from Alex. His attempt to make Kara feel comfortable was not lost on Alex or Kara, and Kara was grateful for it. “I’d like that, thank you.”

“Actually,” rambled on Winn, “You can help me with some upgrades I’ve been making to your new suit-aarrggh!” he finished, wincing at the enormous blunder he’d just made. Alex looked at him in horror, quickly turning her expression neutral again when she remembered Kara could see both their faces. 

“Excuse me, my what?” she puzzled, looking from Winn to Alex and back again.

“Not your suit.” corrected Winn hastily. “A suit. Someone else’s suit. Some entirely different superher-“

“Winn stop talking.” snapped Alex, instantly shutting the young man up. Any favour he’d won with her a moment ago had evaporated as quickly as it had been given. 

Kara frowned at the sudden tension between the two friends. “Alex, what is he talking about?” 

Alex rolled her eyes, as if to suggest she had no idea. “He’s always like this. a little bit of excitement fighting an alien and he just… pfft” She waved her hand near her temple.

Engrossed in their cover-up, Alex hadn’t noticed J’onn, Maggie and Barry joining them.

The three newcomers instantly picked-up on the strange vibe coming off Winn and Alex, not to mention Kara’s crossed arms and glares in their direction. “What’s going on?” queried J’onn.

“Nothing.” quickly responded a nervous Winn. “We were just hanging. Right Alex?”

“Right. Just hanging.” agreed an equally nervous Alex, clearing her throat, both acting like they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Kara huffed in frustration, brow knitted in vexation.

Growing tired of the childish display in front of him, J’onn asked once more, “What’s going on?” in a tone that suggested someone had better answer him.

“They’re hiding something from me. Something about a suit. Which I don’t get, because what could be so important about a suit?” Kara told him, irritation pouring out of her.

J’onn, Barry and Maggie shifted nervously, with J’onn casting reproachful looks to Alex and Winn.

Getting angry at there now being five people keeping something from her, Kara paced. “How do you expect me to trust you, if you’re keeping things from me?” she asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“She has a point.” granted Maggie with a shrug.

“Thank you…” she trailed off.

“Maggie.” 

“Thank you, Maggie.” finished Kara, punctuating the moment by resting her hands on her hips as she faced off against the group.

The five friends took in Kara’s angry form in front of them. This isn’t how they had wanted to broach the subject, but now was as good a time as any to tell the woman she was an alien superhero. Besides, they all knew from how Kara was stood in her classic Supergirl pose, she was not going to back down on this one.

J’onn looked sideways to Alex, deferring to Kara’s sister for permission. Alex still had issues with the man, but for now she was happy for him to take the lead on this one, far too nervous to do it herself. J’onn accepted her nod with an expression Alex couldn’t read. Maybe he was as nervous as her. 

Stepping forward to touch Kara’s arm in a reassuring gesture, J’onn said, “There is something we need to show you.” 

 

The tension in the air was palpable. After agreeing to tell Kara about Supergirl, J’onn led the way to a quieter part of the D.E.O. At first it had gone well. On the way, Barry had started explaining about the different Earths, and although surprised she was on a different Earth, Kara had seen enough sci-fi to have already partially guessed what had happened when she stepped into the breach.,

They then explained how on this earth, there were people like The Flash, who saved people just as he did. They spoke fondly of their greatest hero, Supergirl. That she had special powers like Barry and like Barry, Supergirl used them to help people. To back up their claims, they showed Kara some news footage and that’s around the time it all started to go downhill.

Every person in the room watched Kara as she watched the footage. Immediately recognising herself in the red, blue and gold costume, Kara’s back went rigid, attentive. Her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized every image. A stillness descended over the room as the newsreel stopped playing and her companions waited expectantly.

“Firstly,” began Kara, “no offense Barry, but she is nothing like you.”

“I know” sighed Barry dejectedly. “Supergirl is so much cooler than The Flash.”

“Secondly,” she faced the group, “you’re telling me your friend, Kara, is Supergirl. That you think I’m Supergirl?”

Afraid to speak, they all nodded in affirmation.

“Well, that’s great, because now I can go home. I don’t have any powers, so I can’t be Supergirl. I can’t be Kara.” Seeing she hadn’t convinced them, she continued to logically argue her point. “If I was Supergirl, don’t you think I would have used my powers to help fight the alien that was trying to kill us all?”

“Sometimes, you lose your powers. Supergirl, loses her powers.” Alex gently counter-argued.

“Barry, has The Flash ever lost his powers?” questioned Kara, crossing her arms defensively, not ready to conceded the point.

“No.”

“But The Flash and Supergirl’s powers are completely different. One’s a meta-human, and the other is an –“ Winn stopped, knowing he’d put his foot in it again. His big mouth. What was wrong with him today? Winn wouldn’t be surprised if J’onn fired him on the spot and as for Alex, well if looks could kill…

“The other is what Winn?” pointedly asked Kara.

“An alien.” whispered Winn with a gulp, not daring to look at anyone.

“Agent Schott!” said J’onn crossly, as Alex, Maggie and Barry shouted Winn’s name in disbelief at his tactlessness.

Kara’s hands flew to her head in shock. Laughing in disbelief she looked at each of the faces in front of her. Was this for real? “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me, I’m a flying alien superhero with amnesia, who shoots lasers from her eyes and who has been living in a different dimension for the past five months. Do you know how crazy you all sound?” 

“Yes.” conceded Maggie.

Alex glared at her.

“What?” protested Maggie. “Wouldn’t you have a tough time believing that story?”

And with that, all the tension of the day erupted. Alex yelled at Maggie for not being supportive, before turning on Winn for having the biggest mouth known to mankind. Kara tried to intervene on their behalf, at least they were being truthful, prompting Alex to yell at Kara to stay out of it, causing all four of them to dissolve into squabbling. 

J’onn tried to appeal for peace a few times before being drawn into the argument too. All five instantly stopped, when Barry, tired of watching the fighting, shouted down all of them. Surprised he had managed to achieve what the Director of the D.E.O. hadn’t, Barry nodded in satisfaction. “Right. Now can we all calmly talk about this please?”

Shame at their behaviour flooded over them. Alex was appalled at herself. How could she have shouted at Kara like that? Her sister had only been home for a few hours, not to mention in a fragile state, and here was Alex shouting at her.

“Kara, I’m sorry.” she said sincerely, taking Kara’s hand.

“I told you before, it’s Linda.” said Kara in a clipped tone, pulling her hand free of Alex’s before storming out of the room.

Alex shrunk back, leaving Barry to chase after Kara.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere but here.” responded Kara miserably.

Barry nodded understandingly. Spying an opportunity, he said, “You need to get out of here, and I’m really hungry, so how about we find a bar with good food and good music, and just forget about everything for a little while?”

At the mention of food, her stomach growled, reminding Kara she had barely eaten all day and taking time out from this crazy day seemed like a good idea.

“No talk of superhero’s?”

“Cross my heart.” promised Barry.

Seeing Kara was still unsure, Barry threw in “I’m buying.”

“Okay” relented Kara slowly. “But I warn you, I have a big appetite.”

Barry smiled, “Me too.” Suddenly frowning at a thought, he added, “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

In a flash (literally) he was back at Kara’s side. “Winn said dinner is on him.” grinned Barry, waving a credit card at her. Really, the team had decided dinner was on Winn, as punishment. Sighing in acceptance, the young man had handed over his card, along with a bar recommendation. Assuring a reluctant Alex he would look after Kara, Barry left to try and break down Kara’s defences. As everyone knows, the way to a Superhero’s heart is through their stomach.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was such a fun chapter to write, once I had let out my daily dose of Sanvers angst.
> 
> Credit to Caroline for the Barry and Kara drunk idea! They're both so silly.

After Barry and Kara left, Alex had once again tried to push Maggie away, storming out of the room claiming she needed time alone. Maggie disagreed. Leaving J’onn disciplining Winn, she had followed her wife, taking a few minutes to find her. Sometimes Maggie swore Alex was as fast as her sister.

She sighed quietly when she found Alex in in the locker room, with a bottle of scotch on the bench in front of her. She was staring at the bottle intently, wringing her hands in agitation, trying to not give in to the temptation. Maggie wondered where the bottle had come from, but that wasn’t important right now. What was important was the lid was still on. Alex hadn’t had any – yet.

Maggie quietly sat astride the bench in front of Alex, moving the bottle to the floor behind her. Gently taking Alex’s hands in hers, she forced them to stop their worried motion. Maggie tried to catch Alex’s eye, but she refused to look at her, keeping her head down.

“Hey,” Maggie said softly, “Hey, look at me.” When the woman in front of her gave a slight shake of her head, Maggie touched her under her chin, gently lifting. “Alex, look at me.”

Alex’s eyes, red-rimmed with tears finally connected with Maggie’s causing the woman’s heart to break. She hated seeing Alex so miserable. Pulling her into a tight hug, Alex finally let go sobbing in the comfort of her wife in a way she hadn’t done for months. Feeling her own tears forming, Maggie tenderly stroked Alex’s hair, murmuring words of comfort to her. Eventually, as the sobs started to subside, Alex began to open up.

“I just want to be able to hug her. After all these months, I thought I’d never get the chance again, but now she’s here and, and I still can’t touch her.” 

Maggie stroked Alex’s cheeks, wiping her tears away, being careful of Alex’s still slightly swollen eye. “Sweetie, you’ve just got to give her time.”

“But what if this is it? What if she never remembers? What if, I’m never her sister again.”

“Alex you’ll always be her sister, and if Kara doesn’t remember then that’s ok, because you’ll make new memories with her. She’s still Kara. We’ve all seen that today. Her sunniness, her stubbornness and the way she stands in her Supergirl pose when she’s determined.” pointed out Maggie, causing a small smile to form on both their faces as they thought about Kara’s behaviour. Pleased at the small victory Maggie continued with her light tone. “I’m pretty sure Barry will soon discover her appetite is still there.”

Alex almost laughed, “Poor Winn. Do you think she could max out his card?”

“I’m certain of it.” assured Maggie. 

Alex’s face clouded again. “I shouldn’t have made that promise to her. To let her go if we can’t convince her, I don’t think I can keep it.”

Maggie was worried about that too, not that she’d show it to Alex. Deep down, she knew Alex would do whatever made Kara happy, even at the cost of her own, and she didn’t think she could watch Alex lose Kara all over again. Trying to be strong, Maggie soothed Alex, smiling enough for her dimple’s to show. “It’s going to be ok. We’ll find a way – I prom-”

Maggie didn’t get to finish as Alex suddenly kissed her, mouth enveloping her own. The contact caught Maggie by surprise, causing her to tense slightly, which Alex sensed, suddenly pulling away from her in uncertainty.

“I’m sorry I –“

Now it was Maggie’s turn to cut Alex off. Desperate to feel those lips again, not wanting Alex to feel she had done something wrong, Maggie pressed against her. Their kiss growing with passion until Alex finally pulled away, just a little. Just enough to whisper, “I love you.”

Those three little words snapped Maggie back to focus, her breath catching slightly as she heard them. Tears formed.

“What’s wrong?” asked a dismayed Alex.

Maggie smiled, “Nothing’s wrong. You just, haven’t said that in a while.”

Alex nodded in understanding, her own tears forming again. “I know. And I’m sorry - for everything.”

Maggie hushed her, gently kissing her once more. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, but it can wait. For now, we need to focus on your sister.”

“Are we going to be ok?” Alex asked tentatively, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“We’re going to be ok.” replied Maggie. And that’s all either woman needed to hear.

 

Kara threw down the last stripped buffalo wing in triumph yelling “Ha! I win!”

Cheers erupted around the bar, as Barry slumped in defeat. So close. Never had he lost a food challenge until now. Oh, the shame. He smiled apologetically at the patrons who had betted on him as Kara smiled in triumph, receiving high five’s from, well pretty much everyone. Turns out, they knew Kara at this bar.

Barry laughed as Kara basked in the glory, receiving several drinks from people who appreciated the entertainment. Neither had used their superspeed on this one, so Barry decided, when the time was right, they needed a re-match. Almost falling off her stool as she sat back down, Kara grinned at Barry.

“See, I told you. No-one can beat me at buffalo wings.” she gulped down one of her drinks thirstily, immediately feeling the effects.

“Wow. You gotta try this.” She hands Barry her next drink, who obligingly drinks, before letting out a long whistle.

“What is that?” He could already feel the room spinning.

“I don’t know!” laughed Kara, “But it feels good, right?” 

Barry nods enthusiastically, instantly regretting his decision. Stopping to allow the room draw back into focus, he misses what Kara is saying.

“Whaaaat?” he questions, wincing at his own loudness.

“I said, how’d you get your powers?” slurred Kara.

Barry giggled, “Lightning. I was struck by lightning.”

Kara’s jaw dropped in amazement, “Noooo.”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “It even gave me abs. Look!”

Barry lifted his shirt slightly, puffing his chest out in pride. Kara leant over the table, poking at his chest, checking they were real. Sitting back, she suddenly remembered, “I’ve got those too!” suddenly lifting her top to show the world her abs. “And mine didn’t come from lightning, mine came from being an alien.” 

She poked her tongue out in triumph as she lowered her top, suddenly dissolving into giggles at the thought of being an alien. Barry joined her, not sure what was funny but laughing anyway.

"I'm an alien!" laughed Kara, pulling a face at Barry that asked if he thought it was ridiculous too.

“And I’m The Flash!” half whispered Barry.

They both giggled. “And I’m Kara-Girl!”

The friends frowned at one another. That didn’t sound right. Kara thought hard, suddenly smiling as she remembered, “I’m Super-Kar! Brum! Brum” They both dissolved into laughter with their car impressions. 

“And we have superspeed.” continued Kara, giggling.

“We said no superhero talk!” protested Barry. “You made me promise.”

Kara waved here hand dismissively in front of them, momentarily distracted by how silly that gesture looked. “We’re not. We’re just talking powers. It’s different.”

“Fine.” huffed Barry. “You know, you’re almost as fast as me.” he added conspiratorially. 

Kara narrowed her eyes. “I bet I’m faster.” she challenged. 

“Wanna bet?” 

“Wanna lose another?” smirked Kara.

Barry jumped up, holding out his hand, “You’re on.”

Kara also stood, well kind of, downed another drink before vigorously shaking Barry’s hand. “Let’s do this.”

Barry walked out of the bar, taking Kara by surprise. “Oh! We’re doing this now?” She felt kind of woozy, but followed Barry out of the bar anyway. Not really having a clue where they were, Barry turned left and started walking, hoping to stumble across somewhere for a race. No way was he going to let Kara Danvers beat him twice tonight. He staggered onwards, Kara alongside him until they spotted a school track field within a few blocks. Barry decided even the sporting gods wanted him to win tonight.

The fresh air had done nothing to sober either of them up. If nothing they only felt worse, but they both tried to hide it as they glared at one another from their lanes. 

“Three laps round the track?” asked Barry.

Kara jutted her chin out in determination. “Fine. On three. One…two…”

“Three…” yelled Barry, speeding off. Glancing over his shoulder to check on Kara’s progress, he frowned when he didn’t see her. Looking ahead, Barry suddenly slowed as he saw the woman at the starting line. Had she run past him without him noticing?

Pulling up next to her, he saw that Kara had barely moved. “I win!” she yelled for the second time that night, throwing her arms in the air in triumph and twirling in a small dance. Realising that wasn’t the best idea, she stopped, clutching onto Barry to steady herself.

“Er…no you don’t.” argued Barry.

“Hellooo? I beat you!”

Barry frowned, “Kara you didn’t move.”

“Pffft! I ran so fast you didn’t even see me. Even I didn’t see me I was so fast! I was the horse and you were the turtle.” Kara laughed.

Barry was utterly confused. “Don’t you mean hare and tortoise?” 

“Noooo. I mean the things with the long necks.” Kara stretched her neck in emphasis. “You know the ones that eat the green clouds!”

Barry frowned in thought trying to understand the drunk Kryptonian. Realisation hit him. “Oh, you mean a giraffe!”

“Yes!” smiled Kara. “A giraffe!”

Barry’s frown returned, “I’m so confused right now.”

“Me too.” pouted Kara. “And sleepy.” she added slowly lowering herself to the floor for a nap.

Barry sluggishly tried to pull Kara up off the floor. “Noooo, no, no, noooo. We can’t go to sleep here. The birds might attack us.”

“Barry it’s the middle of the night.” said a serious sounding Kara.

“Fine, the bats then. The bats might attack us with their little vampire teeth.” Barry bared his teeth to Kara to demonstrate his meaning, before glancing around in agitation as if hundreds of the nocturnal mammals might descend upon them at any moment. 

“Okay. But I’m too tired to run.” Kara responded with a yawn, curling up into a little ball.

“That’s ok.” grinned Barry, “Because I’m not.” Pulling Kara off the floor he asked, “You ready?”

Kara looked at him sleepily. “Ready for -?” Before she could finish Barry ran back to the D.E.O.

 

The D.E.O. was a 24hr operation, but even they had their graveyard shift. Very few staff were left in the building to watch Alex as she paced up and down in the main hub. Maggie sat nearby silently watching on as Alex grew more and more tense, whilst Winn snoozed at his desk, head slipping out of his hand, jolting him awake as frequently as Alex checked her watch. A blast of cold air announced the arrival of Kara and Barry, startling Winn out of his sleep. Well that, and Alex’s shouting.

“Where the hell have you been?!” yelled Alex, hands on her hips, glaring at the two figures in front of her.

Barry swayed slightly on his feet, whilst Kara almost fell over. Alex caught her, trying to steady her sister.

Kara grinned up at her “We were having a race.” she slurred, swaying forwards, before trying to stand still again. “I’m very, very fast.” Kara had barely finished her sentence before she turned a horrible shade of green. “I don’t feel so good.” she added.

Maggie, jumped into action, grabbing a bin from a nearby desk and shoving it into Kara’s arms just in time. Alex watched her sister in astonishment before turning on Barry.

“You got her drunk?” 

Barry thought about the question. “Actually, she got me drunk, right before we had a race.”

“Unbelievable.” cried Alex, throwing her hands up in disbelief.

“Who won?” asked Winn, changing his question when Alex glared at him. “I mean, seriously dude? The first thing you did in a new universe was get wasted?” He admonished. “But seriously, who won?” he whispered, hoping Alex wouldn’t hear.

“I did!” came a muffled voice from inside the bin, as Kara held an arm up in case they couldn’t hear her.

“God, I wish I’d been there.” quietly swore Winn.

“Actually, you didn’t.” argued Barry, prompting Kara to raise her middle finger to him, whilst her head was still in the bin. The gesture drew astonished looks from all of them. Kara never swore. Like ever. Alex, Winn and Maggie stared at him as if he had taught Kara the obscene gesture. 

Leaving Kara with Maggie, Alex stalked towards Barry who withered under her gaze.

“So you were both drunk and racing at superspeed? Dressed as civilians” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Ah, actually no. I was. Kara didn’t even move from the start line. No superspeed. None. Nada.” Holding his hands up in defence, as Alex continued to glare at him, he finished with, “I’m just going to be quiet now.” Pulling a chair over, he slowly sat down, struggling with the way it swivelled and almost falling off it twice. Alex mulled over his words for a moment. The more she heard, the more she was convinced Kara didn't have her powers which was a worry. But equally, Kara still had unbreakable skin, the tests had proven that, and no-one had found any medical signs Kara wasn't physically ok, so surely she did have her powers? Alex was utterly puzzled by it all. She needed more information about what had happened to Kara after she left through the portal. Drawn from her thoughts by a slight groan from Kara, Alex returned to where Maggie was stroking a very nauseous looking Kara’s head. No-one was getting answers tonight, that's for sure.

Whilst Alex had been mildly interrogating Barry, Winn had decided to make himself useful and find a couple of bottles of water. He took one to Kara who was once again being nursed by both Alex and Maggie, and gave one to Barry, all the while grateful J’onn had gone home for the night and wasn’t here to witness this reckless behaviour. 

Alex helped Kara undo the bottle, whilst Maggie moved the bin out of the way, still within reach should they need it. Trying to take great gulps, Alex resisted Kara, instructing her to only take little sips. Kara beamed bleary eyed at them all, leaning a slightly sweaty head on Alex’s shoulder.

“You guys are the best. Kara is so lucky to have you all.” Not seeing the effect her comment had on those around her, she announced “I feel so much better now.” Taking them all by surprise as she quickly stood up, before almost immediately falling back down again. Luckily both Alex and Maggie were there to hold her up.

“Woah there Little Danvers.” cooed Maggie.

“I think maybe it’s time we got you to bed.” said Alex decisively. 

“At the D.E.O?” asked Winn.

Alex shook her head. “No. Home.”

Kara who had spent most of this conversation, swinging her sleepy smile between Maggie and Alex asked, “What about Barry?”

They all looked to where Barry sat snoring with his head on a desk, drooling over a keyboard.

“Don’t worry, Winn will look after him. Won’t you Winn?” said Alex in a voice like steel.

“What? I…” He began to protest. Seeing the way all three women were looking at him, one as if to say he owed her, which he did, one that dared him to argue with her wife, and the other just grinning at him with affection, he realised how futile it would be. Resigning himself to his fate, Winn sighed, “Fine. I’ll look after him. But I’m not going to make him comfortable. He can wake up with QUERTY on his forehead for all I care.” he said in defiance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It doesn't progress the story very far, but I hope it was (mostly) fun. The pace will start to pick up a little now and we will start getting some answers soon and maybe, some more questions...mwahahahahaha! 
> 
> Seriously guys, you all keep me motivated! So thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had to take quite the hiatus from AO3 over the past few months, but I'm finally back writing and posting the next chapter. Hope anyone that has read this story so far hasn't completely forgotten what's happened up til now - it has certainly been a while. Anyhow, if you want to, let me know your thoughts, criticisms etc.

Chapter 11

Kara winced as she tried to open her eyes. Daylight was streaming through the window and it hurt. Everything hurt. She groaned as she turned her head away from the offending light, her eyes drooping once more, as she yawned deeply. Vaguely wondering what time it was, Kara decided she didn’t really care. What she did care about was the pain behind her eyes, how her tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of her mouth and how much she wanted to pee. Deciding none of these were good feelings, Kara slowly sat up, swinging her legs off the bed to sit with her head hanging in pain. She paused, waiting for the room to stop spinning before cracking her eyes open, just a little, to test the waters. As the room came into focus, Kara frowned. _Where am I?_

Nothing about this room was familiar, yet she had slept like a log – something she only ever did in her own bed. Frowning, she glanced back at the pillow where she had found peace last night. Definitely not hers and yet it had smelt familiar. Like her own bed in Central City. Shaking her head to clear her foggy thoughts, Kara instantly regretted her decision, groaning in pain. Noticing a pint of water on the bedside table next to her, she eagerly gulped down the oasis to her parched mouth, right before remembering her other main reason for getting up. Still half asleep she staggered to the bathroom, accidently kicking a broken alarm clock on the way. _Jeez, who leaves a broken alarm clock on the floor?_

Kara re-emerged from the bathroom feeling a little better. Still flinching slightly at the brightness in the room, her eyes were drawn to a figure sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the bed. Head thrown back on the mattress, mouth wide open, the woman emitted light snores. Alex. The previous days’ events slowly came back to Kara. She half hoped it had all been a dream. Despite her misgivings about the whole situation, she couldn’t help but smile a little with fondness at the woman slumbering before her. God, she looks uncomfortable. Not wanting to wake her, Kara tip-toed out of the bedroom, picking up the offensive broken alarm clock on the way, to find Maggie in the kitchen cooking up a storm. 

“Morning sunshine,” smirked Maggie as she poured Kara a coffee. “How are you feeling today?” 

Slightly nauseated by the smell of the brew, Kara pushed the mug away, groaning as she rested her head on the counter.

“Enough said.” laughed Maggie. “Sit down. Do you think you can handle some breakfast?”

Kara’s stomach growled. “Maybe a little.”

Maggie pulled a plate over, dishing out three pancakes.

“A little more.” pouted Kara.

Maggie’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but she added another pancake. Kara just looked at her. Laughing Maggie added again and again, until Kara was satisfied with her serving.

“Good to know you don’t lose your appetite, even with a hangover.” 

Kara frowned looking as though she wanted to protest, but with a mouth full of food, was unable to. Maggie added some more batter to the pan as she cooked enough for her and Alex too. 

“Has she been there all night?” asked Kara between mouthfuls, jerking her head towards Alex in the bedroom.

“Yup.” Maggie poured some water for Kara.

Kara chewed her food thoughtfully. “She’s really protective, huh?”

Maggie sat with Kara at the counter, adding some syrup to her pancakes. “Of you? Yes.”

Kara didn’t argue, it was too early in the day for that. Instead she changed the subject. “So, how did you two meet?” 

“On the job.” 

“She interfered with my crime scene.” a voice called from the bedroom, just before Alex emerged, stretching out the kinks from her uncomfortable night’s sleep. Both women smiled at the memory. 

“It was in my jurisdiction and her agents were doing a crappy job.” Maggie confided conspiratorially to Kara.

“I heard that.” admonished Alex as she sat next to Kara at the counter, helping herself to coffee.

Maggie gave Kara a wink, as she served a plate of food to Alex. Noticing Kara’s almost empty plate, Maggie asked, “Do you want some more?”

Kara nodded eagerly, eliciting amused smiles from Alex and Maggie. “What? I barely ate yesterday.”

Maggie snorted with laughter. “So, the buffalo challenge was what? A snack?” 

Kara suddenly looked sheepish. “What buffalo challenge?” asked a confused Alex. Maggie pulled her phone out, clicking on a social media site where a picture of Kara and Barry eating through a mountain of buffalo wings at the dive bar was blowing up. “Say’s here, you smashed your own record.”

Kara shrunk in on herself a little. It wasn’t that she was exactly ashamed of her appetite, but she acknowledged it was a little unusual. She didn’t like it when people made it seem weird. If Alex noticed Kara’s response, she didn’t show it. “So, you had fun last night then?” she asked lightly.

“I think so.” nodded Kara. “Some of it’s a bit blurry, if I’m honest.”

Maggie and Alex sat silently, content to drink in the sight of Kara tucking into her second plate of pancakes. The ping of both Maggie and Alex’s phones interrupted their thoughts. Maggie glanced at a message from J’onn asking them to come into the D.E.O. at the earliest opportunity, whilst Alex point blank ignored it. 

“J’onn?” she queried after a moment. Maggie nodded, stealing a glance at Kara munching away. 

“He wants us to head in for some tests.”  
Kara’s head shot up. Suddenly not hungry, she placed her fork down on her plate. “Tests? On me?”

Feeling the tenseness in Kara, Alex tried reassuring her sister, “It won’t be anything too serious. They’ll just want to check strength and speed. Maybe a little look at your general health.”

Seeing Kara, seemed nervous at the prospect, Maggie offered, “We won’t do anything you aren’t comfortable with. Right, Alex?” 

Alex nodded her confirmation, “Right. You just say the word, and we blow it all and go sightseeing.”

“What sights are there?” asked Kara, her interest piqued.

Maggie and Alex looked questioningly at one another. It’s not that National City didn’t have sights, it was just that neither of them had spent much time visiting them. “Well… there’s the aquarium.” offered Maggie, “And… the Zoo.”

“And, um… there’s an art gallery, full of classical paintings. You – Kara likes to visit there sometimes. Oh, and the National City Space Centre!” finished Alex with satisfaction.

“You have a Space Centre?” Kara said with surprise.

“Oh yeah. It’s really cool. Lot’s of exhibits. Lot’s of stuff about space.” Alex answered vaguely.

Maggie raised an eyebrow. “Really Alex?” Alex frowned at Maggie, not understanding what she was implying. “Space stuff? You work for an organisation that specialises in the extra-terrestrial, have visited other planets and has a sister who is an alien, and you describe the biggest tourist attraction in National City as “Space stuff”.

Alex shrugged her shoulders innocently, “Well it is.”

“Can we go? To the space station? I’d like to see it.” requested Kara, all thoughts’ of tests momentarily forgotten.

Reluctantly, Alex replied “Well, we really should go to the D.E.O.” Seeing Kara’s crestfallen expression, she adds, “How about, we go to see the team at the D.E.O. this morning, and then later we can visit the NCSC? Does that sound ok?” 

“I guess.” Kara, finished her plate of pancakes. “Just don’t test me too much, ok?”

“I promise.” Alex crossed her heart, offering Kara a reassuring smile. 

Kara smiled gratefully at her, before sliding off the stool. “I’d better shower and, um, do you have any clothes I can change into?” she finished shyly.

“Sure, anything in the bedroom. Make yourself at home.” 

As Kara headed to the bathroom, Maggie began clearing up. “Do you want something else?” she queried as she saw Alex’s almost untouched plate of food.

“No. I’m ok.” If she was honest Alex was feeling a little nauseous. 

“Alex, you’ve got to eat. Even if you’re feeling sick.” Maggie added, admonishingly. “How about some toast?”

Reluctantly Alex agreed. She knew food would help with withdrawal but the thought of it was sickening. She had to keep her strength up though – for Kara. All of this was for Kara. There was still so much danger and uncertainty, and the last thing Alex wanted was not be on top form when trouble arrived – of which, she was certain it would. And while Kara was seemingly non-super, it wouldn’t do to have them both off their game. 

Maggie tossed two hot pieces of toast on the plate in front of Alex, and with a pointed look, held a knife out to her. With a sigh, Alex began spreading some butter. _For Kara,_ she thought, as she hesitantly took her first bite.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorty but the next chapter is going straight up.

Barry and Winn watched from the observation deck as Kara barely kept her exhausted legs moving on the treadmill. After Kara had been given a general health check, where she had eventually allowed Alex, and only Alex, to administer any medical testing, Kara was provided with some government issue sweats to change into before being led to one of the D.E.O. training rooms.

For what seemed like hours, she had been running, lifting weights and having her reflexes tested, whilst all her vital signs were being closely monitored. So far, all they had discovered was Kara appeared to all intents and purposes to be human. Except she wasn’t. The blood, Caitlin had drawn at Star Labs gave evidence to Kara’s alien heritage, as did her unbreakable skin. So, until they could shed some light on what could be causing Kara’s apparent lack of superpowers, the team continued to test her. 

“Why some powers but not all? We answer that, and we’ll have our girl back, flying around National City in no time,” mused Winn from where he watched Kara from afar. He would have preferred to be in the room to support her, but his alien friend had clearly been finding the entire morning rather daunting, and Alex decided the fewer people in the room the better. She may not work at the D.E.O. anymore but that didn’t seem to matter when it came to taking charge of a situation that involved her sister. 

“What the hell, man?” came a yell from an angry photo-journalist behind him. “I thought we were partners?”

Barry winced slightly at the sudden loud noise as Winn spun round in surprise. “We were! Are!”

“And yet, you didn’t think to tell me Kara is back? That she’s alive, and here?” James loomed over Winn, backing him up against the glass that separated the training room from the observation point. This close to the glass, James could see into the room where Alex and Maggie were putting Kara through her paces.

“I’m sorry.” Winn had absolutely screwed up on this one. He imagined how angry he would be if he was in James shoes. James who was one of Kara’s best friends, who had dated her, albeit briefly, who was his best friend. 

Seeing Kara in person seemed to temper his anger. “It’s ok. I get things must have been a little nuts around here. Hey, Barry.” James half-nodded in acknowledgement at the man from another universe, never taking his eyes off the action below. Barry grunted in response, whilst curling up into a little ball on his chair. His hangover was lasting a little longer than Kara’s causing him to somewhat regret last night. James frowned at the state of Barry before turning his attention back to the training room. “How’s she doing?”

“You want the honest answer?”

“Of course.”

“We’re not sure. She seems physically healthy, but aside from impenetrable skin, she has no other super-powers, and no idea who she really is.” 

James took the information in, as Kara began to slow on the treadmill. Maggie said something unheard to him but whatever it was seemed to give the younger Danvers a little boost to keep going. Steeling her gaze, eyes forward, jaw set, Kara picked up her pace. 

“Well, maybe once Kara remembers who she is, she’ll get her powers back.”

“You think it’s psychological?” mumbled Barry.

“I don’t know, maybe. She’s been missing for almost half a year, and we have no idea what has happened to her in that time. Maybe she doesn’t have any powers simply because she doesn’t want to.”

 

Maggie parked herself back on the bench where Alex was holding a tablet displaying Kara’s vitals. So far, she had been nothing but average for a human of her age. Leaning in to Alex to get a better look at the screen, she watched the various graphs and numbers change with Kara’s efforts.

“What are you thinking?” murmured Maggie softly, half into Alex’s arm. 

“That there is absolutely no reason I can see for Kara not to be displaying her powers.” whispered Alex, afraid Kara might overhear, with or without super-hearing. “We need help figuring this out.”

“Could J’onn… you know…?” Maggie queried.

Knowing exactly where Maggie’s thought was going Alex shook her head in response. “No. She’s still Kryptonian, so reading her mind won’t work. We need another scientist, one who knows more about Kara’s biology than me.” 

“So, have you called your mom yet? probed Maggie. 

Sighing, Alex slumped a little. “No.” 

Turning Alex towards her a little, Maggie gently took the tablet from Alex. “She has a right to know Kara’s alive.”

“I know that! Of course I do. It’s just…”

“You’re scared.” finished Maggie.

“What if, I have to let her go again? How can I tell my mom she’s back, only to tell her I promised Kara she could leave without ever really knowing who she is? What if I can’t fix this?” ended Alex in a whisper.

Maggie was always astounded when Alex talked like this. How can a woman, as brilliant as she is, be so insecure when it came to her mother. Maggie knew Eliza was a devoted and loving parent, but then again, having an alien sister thrust on you in your teens can’t have been easy. In some ways, Alex had never truly grown-out of being the teenager charged with protecting her awkward new sister. 

“Sweetie, your mom loves you, and Kara. Nothing you do will ever change that. Kara is her daughter as much as you are, and if she has to leave us for a time, Eliza deserves the chance to see her before she does. Besides, two Doctor Danvers who are Kryptonian experts are better than one, right?” 

“Hey!” snapped an irritated Kara from the treadmill, “If you’re not even looking at my vitals anymore, does that mean I can stop this hellish torture?”

“You mean exercise?” quipped Alex.

“She means torture.” countered Maggie, totally agreeing with Kara’s view of exercise. Giving Alex a quick peck on the check, she whispered “Call your mom.” before turning her attention to the exhausted mess on the treadmill. “Hit the showers, little Danvers.” 

 

“We have a problem.”

Briana lifted her eyes from the microscope to see Peter looming over her. Displeased by the interruption, she regarded him coolly. “We do?”

Peter shifted uneasily under her gaze, uncomfortable in her presence. He wasn’t used to being around women of power, and Briana’s power and authority oozed off her in waves. “We, ahem, we do. Yes, we do.”

Briana sat back in her chair waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, she prompted him, “Well?”

Peter looked around the facilities to see who was watching. No-one, except Kiel. At least that’s how it appeared, but he knew that every one of them was tuned in to what he was about to say next. Clearing his throat, he attempted to pull himself together. He wouldn’t let her intimidate him.

“We need to take action – now.” He said the last word firmly, trying to be assertive. Seeing Briana’s eye’s narrow he quickly continued. “Every day, the threat of Supergirl grows and now she is back at the D.E.O. there will be fewer opportunities to fight her without the full force of black ops behind her. We need to put an end to her today.”

Briana didn’t move, just continued to stare. Struggling to keep her gaze, Peter’s eye’s darted about. Why did she make him feel like he was about to be punished? Something about this woman was terrifying. Just when he thought he couldn’t stand the silence any longer she spoke.

“And?”

He looked at her in surprise. “And what?”

“Well how do you propose we, what was it, ‘put an end to her today’?”

“I…erm…well I…” Unprepared for the question, Peter struggled for an answer.

“I thought as much.” With that dismissal she turned back to her work. 

Not ready to accept defeat, Peter tried to elaborate. “We need to infiltrate the D.E.O. Take her down from the inside.” 

Briana sighed as she once again looked up from her work. “I thought you said we had to end her today? Infiltration takes months, years even.” Trying to keep her irritation in check, she softened her voice a little. “Look, I appreciate what you are doing but we can’t act without a fully formed plan. Remember, each time we encounter Supergirl, the more she will learn about us and I don’t want to give her that advantage. We do this properly or not at all.”

The man in front of her flushed with embarrassment before slinking away. As she watched him go, she felt another presence behind her.

“He’s not wrong, you know.”

Briana rolled her eyes as she turned to face yet another man who felt the need to tell her what she was doing wrong. Surprised to see Keil in front of her she was momentarily lost for words. Not who she expected. 

“About the threat. Not the plan part.” he added with a smile as he perched on the edge of the desk.

So, he was going for that angle – the slightly flirty nice guy. Briana thought about how she wanted to handle this. She had deliberately been keeping herself separate from the group. Detached. They had all been thrust together to do a job – colleagues, not friends. Kiel, she noticed, had been doing the same. Staying quiet, keeping himself distant from the others. She’d been struggling to get a read on him, but when she noticed him watching her, she decided to sit back and wait for him to come to her. 

“And how would you do it?” she asked.

Kiel dismissed the question. “I don’t know. I’m a man of action, I leave the strategizing to others. You?”

“I have some ideas.” 

Nodding, Kiel decided not to push it. It was obvious Briana was becoming their unofficial leader and if she didn’t trust him yet, that was ok, he would bide his time. She clearly liked to play the long game, and although it went against his nature, he recognised that it would be worth it in the end.


	13. Chapter 13

Unbeknown to Alex, J’onn had been watching her from the observation platform. After Kara’s training session, she had decided to take Maggie’s advise and call her mom. He didn’t need to mind read her to know how the conversation had gone. J’onn’s gaze tracked Alex as she paced up and down like a caged animal, muttering to herself before finally hitting the call button on her phone. He saw her break the news, watched as her relief turned to irritation and then anger. He ached to go down and hold her. Despite their recent estrangement, Alex was his daughter. Not by blood, but in every other possible way. He knew she could sometimes take the things Eliza said to heart, and even though they wouldn’t be intended to hurt, Alex would find a way to punish herself anyway. 

Hanging up the phone, Alex threw it across the room in frustration just as Kara and Maggie re-entered. J’onn relaxed a little as he watched the three women talk. From up here, he could almost pretend things were as they used to be. 

 

  
Kara and Maggie could feel the tension rolling off Alex in waves. Seeing the broken phone on the floor, Maggie enveloped Alex in a hug. “You called her.” She said more as a statement of fact, letting Alex know she knew what was wrong.

“Called who?” asked Kara innocently picking up the broken pieces and seemingly trying to put the phone back together. 

Alex pulled away from Maggie. “Mom. I called Mom. Eliza.”

Still fiddling with the phone Kara said, “Oh. You don’t get along?”

“No, we do. Mostly. It’s just… well, it’s complicated.” Irritated by Kara’s fiddling, Alex took the phone from her, cutting her thumb on one of the broken edges as she did. Hissing in pain, she quickly raised the thumb to her mouth, sucking the blood away.

“You ok?” quickly asked Kara, pulling Alex’s hand from her mouth to inspect the wound.

“It’s fine.” 

“I’ll grab a plaster.” Maggie went to the first aid kit on the wall. Returning with supplies she wiped the wound whilst Kara followed up with the plaster.

“There. You’ll heal in no time.” smiled Kara.

Alex just stared at her. 

A little unnerved Kara’s smile dropped a little, “Alex?”

“Do you remember me telling you, my sister has unbreakable skin?”

Wary, Kara slowly nodded.

“Do you mind if I try something?” asked Alex, holding up the shard of phone to indicate her meaning.

Taking a step back, Kara quickly hid her hands behind her. 

Not wanting Kara to feel caged, Alex resisted the urge to step forward. “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

Kara glanced at Maggie who was watching the proceedings quietly. Turning her attention back to Alex, she could feel her uncertainty dissolve at the honesty in the woman’s face. What harm could it do anyway? It’s just a little cut. Kara stepped forward, holding out her hand. Blood was not something she liked, so as Alex took her hand, Kara scrunched her eyes closed.

“Don’t.” said Alex gently, “You need to see this.”

Slowly opening her eyes, Kara looked at Alex. 

“Watch.” encouraged Alex.

Lowering her gaze to where Alex held the shard above her palm, Kara watched as Alex pressed deep into her hand and drew the shard slowly across. Kara frowned as the pain she expected didn’t come. As the blood that was supposed to ooze from the wound didn’t materialise. As the wound itself didn’t appear. She traced her finger over where the cut should have been but couldn’t find anything. Alex and Maggie were both grinning at her like idiots. 

“It’s a trick.” stammered Kara.

“No. It’s not.” smiled Alex, triumphant.

Kara looked at her hand again. “It must be. You’re tricking me. Trying to make me see things that aren’t real.”

“Kara, I promise you we are not trying to trick you.” insisted Alex.

 

J’onn smiled as Alex attempted to cut Kara’s hand. It was so obvious. Why hadn’t they thought of it before? Kara’s disbelief was still evident but surely, this would help her see they were telling the truth. Deciding it was time to join them, J’onn stood to leave as Alex rolled her eyes and pulled Maggie’s gun from her holster.

 

Kara stumbled back in shock as Alex pointed Maggie’s gun at her. Raising shaky hands Kara pleaded, “Alex, please, I believe you. Really I do. I’m Kara. I’m your sister.”

“Alex, this isn’t a good idea.” Maggie stepped forward laying a gentle hand on top of the gun. 

J’onn materialised behind Alex. “Agent Danvers, put the gun down.” 

Alex never took her eyes off Kara. “Trust me.” she said, right before she fired.

Kara heard the gun fire, saw the muzzle flash of the weapon as the bullet was discharged, but didn’t feel the exploding pain in her chest. Maybe she was dead. Maybe that was why she couldn’t feel anything. She heard a tinkle as something fell to the ground at her feet. Glancing down she saw a piece of metal. A bullet. A crumpled bullet. Maggie, Alex and J’onn all stared at her with mixtures of trepidation, hope and anger. Unable to face them, Kara simply walked away.

 

The sounds of the city always helped soothe her. In fact, just the sound of people living their lives seemed to calm her. She tried not to dwell on the reasons why, but instead focused on the sounds around her. Closing her eyes, Kara slowed her breathing to the rhythm of people going about their daily lives. At this height, that mostly involved the people in the D.E.O. but she tried to ignore that small detail. Life was life. Sensing someone standing next to her, Kara cracked an eye open to see Maggie standing quietly next to her, staring out at the view from the balcony.

Feeling her heart tighten a little with tension, Kara closed her eyes to focus on her breathing again. Maggie didn’t say a word, just let her continue, offering support by simply being there. 

“Why did she do that?” Kara eventually asked.

Maggie didn’t need time to consider the question. To her the answer was obvious. “Because she’s desperate.” She smiled with sympathy at her sister-in-law. “She’s just got you back, but time is ticking, and Alex can’t bear the thought of losing you again.”

“So she shoots me?” Kara asked incredulously. 

This time Maggie did consider the question. She had been taken aback by Alex’s approach but could understand why she had felt the need to go to such extremes. No doubt the conversation with Eliza had prompted her to try and find a quick solution.

“In her defence, she knew it wouldn’t hurt you. We all did. Otherwise none of us would have let her.”

“Lucky for me.” Kara half laughed a little hysterically as the relief at being alive finally hit her.

She was abruptly cut off by a quiet, “Hey.” as Alex awkwardly approached.

Maggie smiled at the two of them. “I’ll leave you to talk.” Giving her wife’s arm a slight squeeze, she added to both, “I’m just inside if you need me.” 

Alex smiled at her in appreciation before turning her attention to Kara who had stopped laughing and was watching her with trepidation.

“I’m sorry.” 

Kara remained silent.

“If it helps, I knew the bullet wasn’t going to hurt you.” Alex offered with a small smile.

Kara’s jaw set in annoyance. “But I didn’t. You just pointed and fired a gun at me. A gun!”

Alex’s smile dropped. “I know, and I’m sorry, really I am. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just needed you to see the truth.”

Kara bit back an angry retort. She hated to admit it, but she could see where Alex was coming from. She was drawn to Alex, but for some reason the red head knew exactly how to push her buttons. Kara thought about why that could be. 

“So, you’re really my sister?” 

Alex exhaled a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Hearing Kara say the word sister caused such a sense of relief to wash through her, Alex’s her eyes began to well up with tears.

“Yes.” she choked. Wanting to sweep Kara into a hug, but sensing the unease Kara still felt, Alex settled for resting her hand on top of Kara’s, forcing her younger sister to face her. 

“Then why can’t I remember you?” came the uncertain whisper.

Alex’s heart broke again. The fragility in the question made her ache with the need to make this right. “I don’t know, but I promise we’ll figure it out.”

“And if we can’t? I mean if having my sister fire a gun at me doesn’t trigger something other than a panic attack, I don’t know what will.” Kara laughed at how ridiculous the whole situation was, causing Alex to join her. “You fired a gun at me!” Kara repeated. As the laughter subsided, Kara felt a little more at ease, just as Alex felt stronger than before. They could get through this.

“Has anything like this happened before?” queried Kara.

“The memory loss or the power loss?” countered Alex.

Thinking how absurd a sentence with the words ‘power loss’ in reference to her sounded, Kara answered, “Both”

Alex leaned casually against the ledge of the balcony. “The memory loss – no. That’s new. The power loss? Yes. Supergirl has blown her powers before.”

Kara frowned in thought, “So how did she – I,” she corrected, “get them back?”

“Well, the first time was when someone you love very dearly was in danger. I guess instinct just took over.” 

“And the other times?” prompted Kara, but Alex wasn’t listening. Her mind was going back to those early days of Kara being Supergirl. Of the trauma she had experienced at being ‘human’ for the first time in her life. It had taken Kara longer than expected to regain her powers after she drained them fighting Red Tornado. No amount of sunshine had helped, but when disaster struck National City and Kara witnessed first hand someone she loved in danger, her body had responded in the only way it knew how. 

“Alex? Are you ok?” Kara’s concerned voice cut through her thoughts.

“Hmmm? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” came the automatic response.

Unconvinced, Kara prodded. “Are you sure? Because you seem a little distracted?”

Alex forced herself back to the present. “I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“Kara, you believe I’m your sister, and that I would never do anything to hurt you? That I would do anything for you?”

Kara could feel her heart rate picking up again. Alex was making her nervous. “Yes… I guess so…” she answered, still not convinced at how much truth her answer held. 

Alex nodded, decision made. Kara’s eyes went wide as she watched Alex lift herself up on to the balcony ledge.

“Alex, what are you doing?” 

Alex crouched on the ledge before her sister. “Kara, you have always been the best part of me. I trust you more than anyone else in the universe, or any other for that matter.”

Kara can feel the panic rising in her. “Alex, this isn’t funny, please come down.”

“I’m not making a joke, Kara.”

 

Maggie and J’onn had been stood in the centre of the D.E.O. having an informal catch-up on both Kara and Alex’s progress when Winn’s question drew their attention.

“Hey, what’s Alex doing?” 

Both agents turned to where he sat at his desk, chair swivelled to face the balcony and not his screen. As Winn sat a little taller, James, who had been half lying in a chair next to him dropped his feet from the desk and half stood. Their changing demeanours caused both Maggie and J’onn to turn their heads to where Alex and Kara were talking on the balcony.

Time seemed to slow. Maggie saw Alex crouched down speaking to Kara, right before she stood, smiling in Maggie’s direction. Maggie started to run as Alex said to Kara one word.

“Catch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gulp!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okaaayyyy, so I lied when I said I was back. Really sorry, guys. Lesson learnt - don't make bold statements if you can't keep them. Saying that, I am going to try really hard to start regular updates again. I'm also now working on some shorts, so if anyone has some prompts they want to recommend, message me.
> 
> So here's the next chapter. This ended up being slightly different than I had initially intended. The chapter didn't work without a particular character being present, even though I had tried really hard not to involve them. As a result it ended up so unbelievably angsty and painful, way earlier than I had anticipated, and I'm sorry (but only a little because this story was always going to be full of angst). 
> 
> **Several trigger warnings (please tell me if I miss anything): anxiety, alcoholism, hints of suicidal tendencies, violence, control.**
> 
> There is also a teeny, tiny, bit of fluff. It's minuscule. Really, you'll need a microscope. 
> 
> Btw, if anyone wants to skip the chapter but keep reading the story, please let me know and I can give you a synopsis.

Chapter 14

There were moments when Barry would watch the details of a scene playing out in front of him like a big budget movie, everything in high definition slow-mo. He had barely stepped back into the D.E.O. hub when he heard a scream – two screams actually. Barry watched as Maggie dropped the file she was holding, the pages fluttering to the floor like autumn leaves. His eyes tracked her as she sprinted across the D.E.O. and registered J’onn’s momentary look of horror as he followed. Barry saw Kara reach out in a desperate attempt to catch Alex and registered how achingly close she had been in achieving her goal. That was when he knew he had to run.

As Barry passed Maggie, J’onn, Kara, his attention homed in on Alex, already too close to the concrete below. Picking up his speed he ran down the outside of the D.E.O. he calculated his leap between buildings to catch her, using his momentum to propel him up the side of the opposite building. Deciding it was now or never, Barry leapt, reaching out to Alex just as a sudden gush of air buffeted him off course, even at this speed, ruining his trajectory and causing him to almost crash through the building opposite. Despite the unexpected interference, Barry smiled. That had been the unmistakable feeling of someone with superspeed flying next to him. 

 

It seemed utterly absurd that after surviving a jump from a skyscraper, she was now about to be crushed to death. Maggie had Alex gripped so tight, she could barely breathe. Wrapping her arms around her wife, Alex laughed, or at least tried to with the little air she had left. “Now that’s a bone-crushing hug to rival a Kryptonian.”

Maggie pulled back from her, eyes rimming with tears, anger clouding her face. “You’re laughing?”

Alex’s s smile didn’t falter, in spite of hearing an edge to Maggie’s voice. She couldn’t help grinning, the whole thing had been utterly exhilarating. “Hey, no, I –“

Eyes full of rage, Maggie’s face darkened further. “Don’t you _ever_ do that to me again!” Her fists connected with Alex’s chest, finally causing the smile to drop. “Do you hear me, Alex? Never!” 

Shouting the last word caused all the fight to leave Maggie, giving Alex the chance to pull her into a tight hug, peppering her head with kisses, whispering, “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.” Her eyes roamed over the agents in front of her who had quickly turned away, not wanting to intrude, once they knew Alex was safe. She continued to stroke Maggie’s hair whilst clutching her tightly, neither of them wanting to let go, whilst smiling tightly at those in her immediate vicinity. Barry; Winn; James; J’onn and … her hands stopped stroking.

“Where’s Kara?” 

The question elicited frowns from her friends, each looking around them as if expecting the bubbly blonde to jump out at them shouting ‘surprise!’. Alex pulled away from Maggie to scan the base of their operations, her wife’s heartache momentarily forgotten. Not finding her sisters form amongst the many agents, Alex turned back to the group. “She’s not here. Where is she?” She hadn’t meant to sound accusatory but her euphoria at being rescued had quickly dissipated, leaving behind an anxiety that had settled in the pit of her stomach and was quickly rising.

“She was here just a moment ago…” James offered dumbly. 

Worry for Kara erupted again, like molten lava spilling from her very core. “I know she was here a minute ago,” Alex snapped, “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Her words cracked like a whip across stone. 

“Alex, what do you mean?” asked J’onn

Rolling her eyes, she sneered at her former boss. None of the anger she felt towards him had been satiated by Kara’s return. Events were still far too raw to contemplate forgiveness. “What do you think I mean _Director_?” she spat out. “Kara was here, she saved me, and now she’s gone.”

J’onn’s eyes momentarily flickered, a thought fleetingly crossing his face, before he schooled it back into professionalism. Opening his mouth to speak, he was unusually lost for words. Alex glared at him expectantly, not registering the looks of both astonishment and embarrassment on those around her.

“Babe,” Maggie gently touched Alex’s arm, forcing her to uncross them and face her, “Kara didn’t save you,” she paused letting the information sink in, “J’onn did.” 

“What?” Maggie knew Alex had heard her, she didn’t need to repeat herself. Alex’s brow furrowed in confusion and disbelief, her feet shifting nervously. “What are you talking about? Kara saved me. The plan worked. She got her powers back, and she saved me.” Not receiving the answer she wanted from Maggie, Alex turned to the others. “Guys, you saw it right? Kara saved me.” Barry, Winn and James one by one shook their heads, Winn staring miserably at the floor. Alex thought back over events, not wanting to acknowledge her eyes had been forced closed because of the wind stinging them. Not wanting to accept the relief had been so great, she hadn’t thought about whose arms had safely enveloped her as she was carried back to the D.E.O. even though she knew the feeling of flying with Kara like no other. Upon landing, she had been distracted by Maggie almost knocking her off her feet, so whereas she would have instantly celebrated Kara’s power return, instead she had embraced her wife. Not once had she seen Kara since she uttered that one word. Not once.

Alex reeled as the knowledge hit home, her body suddenly feeling like ice. “Oh God.” she whispered, covering her face with trembling hands, tears spilling over. Alex had forced Kara to watch her jump. Her Kara, who had seen so much death already, who hadn’t been able to save her family when Krypton exploded. “I told her to catch me. I made her responsible for whether I lived.”

No-one tried to placate her with meaningless words, what Alex had done was wrong, even if it had been in her eyes, with the best of intentions. Maggie, ever her rock to cling to, enfolded her in a warm embrace as she herself struggled with her own emotions.

“If she didn’t catch me… but she watched… she probably thinks…“ Alex choked on her words, feeling sick with stupidity, as her thoughts tumbled out leaving her with one certainty. “We need to find her. Now!” But Alex was shaking so badly she didn’t think she could move. Her head felt foggy and heavy. She needed a drink. If she could just… but no, there wasn’t time, but she could think better if… that must have been why she did it, she wasn’t thinking straight. If she could just have a little, just to clear her head, she’d feel better. Better enough to help Kara…

“We’ll find her.” J’onn’s commanding tone cut through her thoughts, pulling her back to her surroundings.

Just a little drink… “No, I’ll go.” Alex said firmly, clenching her fists at her sides in an attempt to disguise her unravelling thoughts. If she could just get away from them all, just for a few minutes…

“I’m coming with you,” declared Maggie, as if reading her thoughts.

“No Maggie, it’s ok. I can – “

“I’m coming with you.” Her tone left no room for argument. She took one of Alex’s fists in her own hands, forcing the latter to uncurl her fingers and interlace them in a way that eased the tension a little. It was a small gesture that told Alex Maggie knew exactly what she was thinking, and her wife wasn’t going to let her fall apart right now. Alex gave a small nod in thanks.

Maggie squeezed her hand in acceptance, using Alex to ground her as much as she was grounding Alex. Maggie was still shaking from her own shock, but right now she needed to turn her attention to the task at hand, using it to bury her own feelings. Alex’s struggle with alcohol and her reckless behaviour would have to be shelved for now, but not hidden and not forgotten. “Barry, can you find out where Kara is?”

After his initial surprise at it being J’onn and not Kara who had saved Alex, the red speedster had been quietly watching the proceedings. He was itching to help but didn’t want to interfere, so was eager to accept the task set before him by Maggie. “Sure.”

“But,” added Alex, before he could dart off, “don’t approach her. Please? I want to talk to her first.”

Sending a reassuring nod in her direction, Barry smiled, “I’ll be back soon.” 

“He’ll find her,” piped up an overly cheerful, nervous Winn, “he always does.”

Alex felt a pang of jealousy at the comment. Winn hadn’t meant it to sting, but it had. The truth of it hurt; Barry always found Kara, even when Alex couldn’t.

 

Kara hadn’t waited around to be a witness to their grief; a witness to _her_ failure. She didn’t remember how she had ended up stumbling along the sidewalk, her body knew she had to keep moving, even if her mind didn’t really understand why. Oblivious to her surroundings, she walked. Away. Just far, far away. She came to realise there was a point she must have vomited, because she could still taste the sourness it left in her mouth, but she couldn’t seem to care. Alex had – She immediately slammed the lid on the thought, snapping herself back to reality. Pausing in her exodus, Kara looked around her, at the people going about their daily lives, oblivious to her torment. The comfort she normally found in people-watching was absent, all she wanted to do was block them out, block this whole stupid world out. 

Head hanging, shoulders hunched, with her hands thrust deep in her pockets, Kara concentrated on the sidewalk in front of her. Focusing on a pair of bright red shoes, she subconsciously made the decision to follow them. The steady rhythm of the heels on the pavement helped to focus her mind. Click, clack, click, clack, until suddenly the occupant veered off. Deciding to keep a steady course, Kara turned her attention to following some scruffy trainers instead. She didn’t care who was wearing them, or where they were going, as long as they were leading her away. Eventually those too took a new course into a building, into a confinement in which Kara did not want to follow. So, then it was her own footfall, striking the ground. 1,2,3,4… 

“Kara!”

Numbers and repetition helped to soothe her mind, giving her something to concentrate on, allowing her the luxury of forgetting the rest of the world. 

“Kara, stop!”  
Reciting verbs or poems or the periodic table had the same effect. Anything that was ingrained, familiar, anything that she didn’t really have to think about but could list, would help. Right now, it was counting.

“Linda!”

Kara stopped, blinked. Someone had called her name. That voice was familiar. Turning her head to where she thought it had come from, Kara looked in puzzlement at the person before her.

“Excuse me, but do I know you?” she asked politely, not wanting to offend the stranger. 

“Honestly Kara, I’m a little hurt you don’t recognise me.” 

She squinted at him as she struggled to pick through her memories. He _did_ seem familiar to her. The way he stood leaning against the wall, one leg crossed over the other in a casualness that didn’t go with the rest of his appearance. He was smartly dressed in a sharp deep blue suit, cut to perfectly show off his muscular torso. His dark brown, slightly peppered hair was cut in a regular short, back and sides, with a slight quiff at the front, whilst his strong jawline framed an easy smile that was currently beaming at Kara. A smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been having a little trouble with my memory lately…” Kara trailed off, not sure how to explain it.

The man straightened up taking a slight step towards her, causing Kara to automatically step back. “I know.” he said, simply, still smiling like they were old friends.

Kara’s heart skipped a beat, her spider sense tingling. “You know? But how – “

“Kara!” 

As Kara half-turned in the distance she saw her, Alex. But it couldn’t be, because Alex jumped from the 28th floor of a building. So she must be seeing a ghost. Kara snorted with derision at the thought. Of course Alex would still be harassing her, even in death. But there was Maggie too. So maybe Alex wasn’t dead. Or maybe Maggie jumped after her in a desperate attempt to save her and now they were both haunting her. Dead or alive, either way, Kara wanted nothing to do with them. Feeling desperately shaky again, Kara glanced at the man, still stood in the ally to her left, still smiling, in an almost self-satisfied way. Concluding she didn’t want anything to do with him either, Kara turned her back on them all wanting to put as much distance as she could between her and these lunatics.

“Kara, wait! Please stop. I just want to talk.” Alex pleaded.

Alex might have wanted to talk but Kara didn’t. She was done talking. Sister or not, Alex had done nothing but pressure her since she arrived, and yes Kara understood Alex was going through some stuff, some pretty big stuff from what she’d seen, but Alex had Maggie, and J’onn and all the others to help her with that. She was a stranger to Kara, a toxic one who was trying to force herself into Kara’s life.

“Kara, stop!” Alex shouted crossly. Resigned to the thought that Alex was likely to chase her to the ends of the earth at this rate, Kara stopped. Her steely gaze and tense jaw caused Alex to stop in her tracks, immediately softening her voice again. “I just want to talk.” she repeated. Not getting a response from Kara, she took it as her cue to continue. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. I was just trying to help. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Kara snorted with disbelief. “Scare me? You think you _scared_ me?”

“Well, yes.” Alex responded meekly.

“Alex, you told me to save you, before throwing yourself off a building. That’s not scary, that’s _terrifying_. I _watched_ you die.”

A snide laugh echoed off the walls.

“Well, I have to say, that’s pretty psychotic, even for you Alex. And after everything poor Kara has been through.”

Alex’s eyes darted to the newcomer, as he appeared from the alley. Instantly she drew her gun and began firing. She was aware of Maggie doing the same, but despite every bullet hitting its target not one caused him to drop. She vaguely heard Kara shouting at her and Maggie but ignored her sister as she watched the way he moved to put himself between them, near Kara. She knew it was useless to continue firing, her bullets were wasted on him.

“Get away from her,” growled Alex, her voice seething with anger, gun still trained on him despite how futile it would be to fire.

“What the hell was that, Alex?” Kara screamed at her. “Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Exactly what I was wondering Kara. I have to say Alex, you seem a little more unstable than when we last met and even then you had a whole tin of screws loose. Has anything happened? Do you want to talk about it?” He pouted at her, mocking Alex in every way possible. 

“Ignore him,” hissed Maggie, as she felt Alex twitch beside her, aching to leap over there and beat him to death.

Kara looked like she was desperately trying to keep up. “You know each other?” 

Maggie and Alex shared a look of surprise, _Kara didn’t know_?

“C’mon on now Kara, think! Remember how you introduced us, and all those lovely dinners we used to have together, the four of us? But then Alex decided, out of nowhere I might add, she didn’t want you to be happy. Remember the feeling when she’d freeze you out, finding lame excuses to frequently cancel on you, not caring if it was life or death. Remember that?” Not once did he address Kara, only staring at Alex with that sick smile on his face, daring her to make a move.

Kara struggled to piece together what he was saying with her own memories. Something was picking at the edges of her mind, tiny threads working their way loose. She _knew him_ , somewhere deep down he was woven into the very fibre of her being. A name began to form. A name that still held no real meaning to her. Knoxx.

He peered at Kara. “ _Still_ nothing? Wow. I really did a number on you.” Turning away from her, casually pacing he tried again. “Okay. How about this? Why don’t we tell Alex and Maggie how we spent our summer vacay together?” 

Kara stiffened, the words cutting through her like a cold knife. Alex didn’t care that her bullets wouldn’t work, she fired as she ran at him, uttering a primal roar of hatred. 

“Alex, stop!” came Maggie’s cry as she glimpsed something green glinting in Knoxx’s hand. Alex couldn’t bare it. This couldn’t be happening again. Too much of the scene playing out before her felt like last time. Her mind went blank, hands shakily gripping her gun, even though she knew she was out of bullets. _This couldn’t be happening again._ Alex was willing Kara to remember who she was and to use her powers, but her sister stood frozen, eyes fixed on the knife. _She recognises it,_ thought Alex with a mixture of sickening dread and hope. This was the first sign, Kara had given any indication of remembrance. Alex could see the pain on Kara’s face, although she tried to hide it, the kryptonite blade close enough for the radiation to affect her. 

Knoxx sighed, “Alex, I wish you would stop making me do this. All these threats are so unnecessary, isn’t that right Kara?”

“Don’t talk to her,” snapped Alex.

Knoxx laughed, “Or what? You don’t have the upper hand here Alex.” He inched closer to Kara, who was starting to shake with the effort of trying to control her pain, the knife point edging closer to her skin. 

Needing to draw his attention away from Kara, Alex demanded, “What is it you want?” 

Knoxx rolled his eyes, bored at the thought of having to explain himself. “Isn’t it painfully obvious?” he answered, not taking his eyes off Kara. When Alex didn’t respond, he continued, explaining as if to a small child. “Your sister, Alex. I want your sister. You see, we didn’t get to finish what we started.” Seeing something move out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly drew a gun from his waistband. “You take one more step Maggie and I _will shoot you._ ” he finished coolly, forever in control of the situation. Maggie froze, although Alex could see her hesitating. She looked to Alex. _Maybe it’s worth risking?_ Alex shook her head. She couldn’t risk losing Maggie anymore than she could risk losing Kara again.

“Now,” continued Knoxx, “you’re going to let Kara and I walk away. You’re not going to try to follow us, or I will hurt her, and I don’t make empty threats, do I Kara?” Kara stared at him with pure hatred, jaw set, determined to not let him win. Kara knew was a standoff Alex couldn’t win, not against him. She wasn’t going to be a pawn in his game of chess. Seeing her defiance his eyes narrowed. “Really Kara, I thought we’d resolved all this animosity? Now, come here, like a good girl.”

In an instant Kara closed the gap, the knife sliding into her like butter, just as a throwing star whizzed past her head and lodged in a wall behind her. A second earlier and it would have killed the Kryptonian. Knoxx and Maggie both looked in surprise towards this new threat, whilst Alex stared in horror at where Knoxx gripped the knife, still lodged in Kara’s stomach. More weapons began hurtling in their direction, each with distinctive green tips. Intended for Kara or not, they could certainly kill humans too. Another blade brushed between Knoxx and Kara, so close it nicked the skin of his cheek, drawing a tiny trickle of blood. _That was unexpected and new,_ he thought. Maggie started firing with what little bullets she had left. 

Knoxx turned his attention back to Kara, “I really wish you hadn’t of done that,” he said with disappointment in his voice. He slid the knife back out, careful not to inflict further damage if he could help it. Alex immediately went to catch her sister, as she crumpled to the floor, clutching her side in pain. 

Knoxx surveyed the scene around them, hedging his bets. There weren’t as many as last time, only four that he could see, but four Shirqoolka was more than enough to get the job done. Maggie was holding her own though, each shot carefully placed to take someone down. Several blades came precariously close to where Kara was lying on the floor. Each one intended for her alone. Knoxx hesitated. Maybe he should help, after all, he couldn’t have Kara die. Alex and Maggie were a different matter, but Kara – no. 

Deciding on a new plan, he snapped his fingers, a portal opening behind him, causing a volatile wind to whip up around them. “Let me take her Alex.“ He stepped towards where Alex was trying to shield Kara with her own body, desperately pressing against Kara’s side to stem the flow of blood. “Maggie’s running out of bullets, and they’ll kill you both to get to Kara. I can protect her.”

Kara clutched at Alex desperately, “Alex, don’t let him take me.” she pleaded. 

Alex stroked Kara’s face, tenderly kissing her cheek despite the chaos around them. “I won’t,” she whispered. “I promise.”

Knoxx huffed in frustration. “Fine, but don’t you let her die,” he pointed accusingly at Alex, almost losing a finger as another blade flew past him. 

“Alex!” yelled Maggie, her gun clicking with an empty magazine. She could see how hurt Kara was, and they had nothing left to fight with. She looked at her surroundings. Stones, broken glass, any of these could be a weapon if used right.

Knoxx looked to where Maggie was picking up anything within reach and throwing it at the attackers. He smiled at her spirit. “You know Kara, now would be a good time to use your powers.” When Kara didn’t move he tossed his gun to Alex, “You’re going to need this. I’ll come back for it though, and when I do, Kara’s leaving with me.”

He stepped through the portal which instantly closed up behind him, leaving a sudden quiet. A quiet that was interrupted by Kara’s ragged breathing, and Maggie shouting as she threw glass, trying to draw attention towards herself rather than Kara and Alex.

Alex picked up the gun looking for the remaining attackers. The attacks were less frequent now, probably because they were in a similar position – not an unlimited supply of weapons. Unable to get a location on them, Alex called for Maggie, throwing her Knoxx’s gun. Two quick rounds split the air before Maggie ran to where Alex was crouched over Kara, barely conscious on the floor.

“Did you get them?” came Kara’s small voice.

Maggie smiled tightly, “Yeah I got ‘em.”

“Good, ‘cos I bet 30 donuts that you’d win.”

Maggie and Alex frowned, Kara wasn’t making any sense. “Bet? With who?” asked Alex.

Kara smiled half-heartedly. “With me of course! That way I couldn’t lose.” 

Maggie laughed, whilst Alex smiled. How was Kara making jokes? Maggie looked at all the blood. How Kara was even conscious was beyond her. She needed to get help here - fast. As Maggie stepped away to call the D.E.O. Alex tried to keep her sister conscious.

“Kara, I…”

“It’s ok, Alex. I forgive you.” Kara’s eyes drooped before focusing on Alex again, “I know you killed Jus-T.”

Alex tried to shush Kara, she wasn’t making any sense and Alex needed her to conserve energy until help could arrive. “Kara, please don’t try and –“ she paused as what Kara said sank in. “Jus-T? Your cuddly T-Rex from the 8th grade?” Alex asked incredulously, her lips curling up in a smile in-spite of herself.

“Sshhh…” whispered Kara, her words starting to slur as her body went into shutdown. “Itsok. He wass kindof annoying. Now, please…gemme undera sun-lamp before I blee to d..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, can we please start a petition to bring back Sanvers? I don't need to tell you all why.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I never write a chapter summary but do people want them, or do you prefer to be surprised? Genuine question.

Anger coursed through his veins, as Kiel paced around the room like a caged animal. They were just getting reports of the situation Peter had created downtown, and it left him wanting to punch something - repeatedly. He wasn’t angry at the result, well, maybe just a little, but he was angrier that Peter and a few others had gone rogue, doing whatever the hell they wanted regardless of the consequences. He was sure Peter had thought he could end this, and come back the hero of the hour having killed Supergirl, but instead they had lost four of their team who were now in the hands of the D.E.O. Whether they were dead or alive at this point no-one knew, but he hoped for their sake it was the former. If not, the D.E.O. would find ways to make them talk, and that was dangerous. 

“All I want to know, is whether or not they succeeded. I don’t care how they went about it if she’s dead,” came a shout from across the room. 

“What the end justifies the means?” came the counter argument.

“Yes. If it means ending the biggest threat the world has ever known. Besides, the whole premise of us being here is based on that. If you have a problem with that, maybe you shouldn’t be here.”

Kiel’s eyes narrowed. _Here we go again,_ he thought in frustration. Yet another argument. He looked to where Briana was focussed on the screen in front of her, puzzling over some data rather than getting involved. She alone seemed utterly unphased by Peter’s betrayal. They were getting under his skin, all of them, including her, and as much as he tried to fight it, he found himself failing. They were meant to be a team but for months, ever since their first failure, they had been at one another’s throats. 

From the moment they had arrived in this time the plan had fallen through. Their information was patchy, their resources limited. Kiel didn’t know who had set this in motion, like everyone else, he had anonymously received a time and location, and when he arrived there were further instructions. Supergirl and her team had eyes and ears everywhere, so the need for secrecy and anonymity had been paramount. The details of the mission was explained, and with it came the realisation just by turning up, they had opted in. There was no going back. The plan had seemed solid at the time, thought through, but now they were hitting one stumbling block after another and things were getting out of control. The longer they stayed in this timeline, the more unforeseen consequences there could be in the future. He didn’t understand the science exactly, but he knew it was one of the many reasons they had to be so careful, and they were all acutely aware of this. At least he had thought they were, now he wasn’t so sure.

His eyes slid over the group still bickering, and once again rested on Briana. Since their brief exchange the other day, she hadn’t said another word to him, although he had caught her watching him once or twice. She was sizing him up. For what he didn't know yet, but he could see the cogs of her brain continually turning. As he looked at her now, staring at her screen, he thought about what skills she brought to the group. Her engagement with any of them had been patchy, almost hostile in her detachment, but every now and then she would interject a thought to the group that would have them feeling like she was one of them. She had an air about her that demanded respect.

The arguing continued as the group tried to piece together the little information they had. They were supposed to be a team and they were anything but. Briana and Peter were both testament to that. Once again Kiel thought about what they knew about one another. They were all here because they were given a task to complete. Each of them was highly skilled at killing, in one way or another, but what else? That can’t be all they were good for. Surely, the whole plan wasn’t relying solely on their individual skill to kill? If so, it was a little short sighted. They needed to work together if they were ever going to succeed, and what was Kiel good at? Teamwork. He was good at forming teams, at finding ways to make individuals work together to achieve a common goal. When he thought about it, he knew this was his main skill, not how good a marksman he was. 

Kiel stopped pacing, he knew _exactly_ what he had to do. 

“I need to talk to you,” he whispered, leaning over the back of Briana’s chair. Slowly, her head cocked to the side, indicating she had heard him, eyes not leaving the screen in front. “Not here,” he added before walking away, expecting her to follow. Slipping into one of the makeshift bedrooms, he waited patiently for her to join him. “Close the door,” he instructed, as she entered, almost silently, a minute later. 

She hesitated for the briefest of moments, unsure of where this was heading and all too aware of how this probably looked to anyone watching. Kiel kept his distance, making sure his body language was unthreatening, his face open and soft. Briana closed the door with a soft click, making a point of leaving it unlocked. Jaw tight, eyes fierce, she stood tense with un-amusement, waiting for Kiel to explain himself.

“You have to tell me your plan,” he directed.

Briana bristled, her chin lifted in defiance. “I don’t _have to do anything_.” She turned, hand on the door handle she had only just closed.

“Wait!” Kiel protested. “Let me say that again. I _think_ you should tell me your plan.”

Briana slowly turned to face him again. “Why?” 

Noting she hadn’t tried to deny having a plan, Kiel thought about her question. She was so self-assured, it was unnerving and yet somehow equally disarming all at once. After a moment he said, “Because we’re supposed to be a team, and maybe I can help.”

“We’re not a team,” countered Briana assuredly. 

“Precisely, but we should be.” When Briana seemed unimpressed by the comment, Kiel continued. “I get it, you’re used to working alone. Maybe you’ve never been part of a team, or maybe you have and was burned by it.” Briana shifted fractionally, telling Kiel he was on the right track. “Either way,” he continued, “you put up a wall to stop people from getting too close. And that’s fine,” he paused, “except right now the fate of the world is in our hands and you are ignoring a huge resource. There are twelve people next door with untapped skills and information.”

“They’re idiots.” 

Kiel pressed on, unfazed. “They’re not idiots. They’re uncoordinated. They need leadership.”

“And I suppose that’s where you come in?” she asked with derision.

“No.” he disagreed, unexpectedly. “That’s where you come in. Now, tell me your plan,” he repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. Next few are written, just tweaking, so will post very soon.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shortie.

Kara smiled contentedly as she basked in the warmth of the sun. She could literally feel the vitamin D rejuvenating her cells, burning away the aches, evaporating the tiredness in her bones. It felt glorious, there was no other feeling on earth quite like it. 

Taking a deep breath, she stretched, curling back in on herself as she noted a dull ache in her side. Adjusting herself to a more comfortable position, Kara concentrated on relaxing her body. Tension had been coiling inside her for months now, and this was the first opportunity she’d had to just get away and give herself a little TLC. The effort it was taking for her to unwind was testament to how overdue this was. Clearing her mind once more, and taking a deep breath, Kara filled her lungs with the saltiness of the hot, almost oppressive air, so encompassing she could taste it. There was a tinge of something metallic too, although whether she was tasting or smelling it, she didn’t know. It reminded her of something, but Kara couldn’t quite put her finger on what. Deciding it wasn’t important, she again focussed on the feeling of the sun on her skin, the sound of the waves, and in the distance… voices, she realised, a little irritated, a sliver of tension returning. This was meant to be a private beach, no-one else was supposed to be here, not without her saying so. She wanted to see who was invading her space, send them on their way, but the sun was so bright, and despite how good she felt, or maybe in spite of it, she didn’t want to move. 

Slowing her breathing, Kara decided to let it go, to return to her place of Zen, with the sun beating down, and the waves breaking against the shoreline, beeping with each lap of the sand. 

The chatter of wildlife was – wait, beeping waves? Was that right? It didn’t feel right, but again, Kara wasn’t sure she cared enough to find out. She was content enough to stay here forever.  


Beep… beep… beep…

Letting go of everything. 

Beep… beep… 

Becoming one with Rao.

Beep…

 

Head bowed, half asleep in her vigil next to Kara, Alex jolted upright as the heart monitor emitted a sustained piercing note. In panic, she barely glanced at the flat horizontal line on the screen before slamming her fist into the red panic button next to the bed, as at the same time she yanked the sunlamps out of the way. Without a moment’s hesitation, not giving herself time to think, Alex prepared to perform CPR on her little sister. 

“One, two, three…” she didn’t even know if this would work on Kara. “Four, five, six…”

Alex barely registered the team of medics, who flooded into the room.

“Alex.”

Kara’s body was pretty much unbreakable, sure… “Seven, eight…” Alex tried to blink away the tears streaming down her cheeks. 

“Alex, stop.” came the gentle order.

But she had been hurt so that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work - if Alex pressed hard enough. “Nine, ten, eleven…” She had to try.

A hand clamped around her wrist. How could they want her to stop? This was _Kara!_ They would fight for everyone else, but not for Kara? 

“Twelve…”

The hand on her wrist gripped tighter, almost painfully. Alex wanted to shake it off, but she had lost her rhythm, and now she wasn’t sure how many compressions she was up to. Her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her. The lump in her throat making it harder to breathe, her vision blurry with tears flowing too fast for her eyes to blink them away. She could hear her blood rushing though her ears. Her thoughts were racing, making it hard to focus. 

Why wasn’t anyone helping her? _Screw them,_ she thought angrily. She’d only just Kara back, and no way was she going to lose her now – not like this. Alex lost count but continued pressing into the torso in front of her. Any second now, she would have to give rescue breaths. She would have to look Kara in the face, and Alex didn’t think she could bare it. _Think like a doctor. Not a sister. Think like a doctor, think like a doctor._

“Alex,” came a slurred voice softly, interrupting her thoughts and her rhythm, “please stop – it kind of hurts.”

Alex paused, body rigid with uncertainty. Had she - ? Did someone say _hurts?_ Not someone - _Kara._ Was it possible? Had _she_ really said…? Alex dragged her focus up to where brilliant blue eyes, still heavy lidded with sleep smiled at her in a way only Kara could.

“I think you’ve broken a few ribs…” Kara half-joked to put her sister at ease, trailing off when no-one laughed. But it didn’t matter to Alex because in that moment, her world became whole again. 

Shaking with emotion, the adrenaline left her body as quickly as it had arrived, she sobbed. “I thought you were dead. The monitor it –“

Kara sheepishly showed Alex one of the electrodes in her hand, where she had pulled it off. “The beeping was annoying me.” she explained, sleepily,

A bellow of laughter startled Alex, she had forgotten there was anyone else in the room. Turning to see J’onn with a big smile on his face, the whole room suddenly erupted into laughter, something that hadn’t been heard at the D.E.O. in a long time, the fear and the stress dissipating with each passing second. Kara wasn’t sure what the joke was, but it didn’t matter. She watched as Alex fought her tears, finally allowing a small smile to tug at the sides of her mouth. That was all Kara needed to see before the lure of the beach beckoned once more.


	17. Chapter 17

_“She almost bled-out. Twice.”_

_“I am aware of that.”_

_“And we have no idea what kind of mental state she’ll be in.”_

_“I know. I don’t suggest this lightly.”_

_“Really? Because it seems to me, you’re pretty injudicious these days.”_

_“Will you please keep your voices down? You’re going to wake her.”_

_Wake who?_ Groggily opening her eyes, Kara blinked at the glare of the sun-lamps above her. Jeez they were bright, but they also felt _really_ good, like when you step out of the shade into the warmth of the sun on a spring morning. Her eyes drifted close again as she soaked up the artificial rays, letting the feeling course through her bones as her cells were rejuvenated. She could stay like this forever, drifting in and out of sleep, on this grass – hang on, no, they were sun lamps which meant she was probably back in the med-bay, again. 

Why? She couldn’t remember and couldn’t seem to care enough about that. _Oh well_ , she went back to listening to the hum of the bees in her little oasis, or were they voices? _Med-bay, right. Probably not bees then._ Wanting to get more comfortable, Kara shifted slightly on the bed, hissing as a sharp pain suddenly coursed through her left-hand side. A barrage of images assaulted her mind’s eye, causing her breath to quicken, until she settled on one image. _Oh yeah, that’s right, whopping great big Kryptonite knife,_ she thought drily, _better not move then._

The warmth disappeared, leaving an unexpected coolness which gave her goose bumps. Surprised by the change in temperature, Kara cracked her eyes open again, this time finding the sun lamps gone, and a sea of concerned and expectant faces instead. 

“I feel like baby Ben in that Friends episode.” quipped Kara, mostly to herself, half-smiling at the idea. Pausing whilst she dragged herself fully into the present, she began again a little louder, asking the group, “So, I almost died again?” 

“I told you to stop being so loud,” reprimanded Winn to the group before turning back to Kara, “I tried to tell them.”

“I know you did,” assured Kara. After a beat where no-one stepped up to answer, she asked again, “So?” 

Alex, standing to Kara’s left, shuffled nervously. Kara watched her as she moved to take her hand before pulling back at the last minute, instead opting to rest her hands on the edge of the bed. “I…um…” Her eyes darted around the room, looking at the monitor, the light fixtures, anywhere but at Kara. Unsure of why Alex was so nervous, Kara waited quietly until finally Alex swallowed hard. “I may have inadvertently reopened your wound when I gave you CPR.” she blurted in a rush, eyes finally settling on Kara’s.

Kara studied her a moment before asking, “You had to give me CPR?”

“You don’t remember?” shot back Alex, at once standing still, face ashen.

Kara still felt a little groggy, but she searched her mind anyway before shaking her head, no, in confirmation. “I’m sorry you had to do that.” Kara told Alex, knowing how scary that must have been for her. Alex looked like she was going to be sick as she threw Maggie a worried glance. 

“Hey,” Kara tentatively reached for Alex’s hand, unsure as to whether this was ok after Alex’s hesitation only moments before, “I’m ok. I might not remember CPR, but I remember, Alex. I remember _you._ ” 

Alex inhaled a deep shuddering breath, shoulders sagging in relief, as huge smiles split across the faces of her companions. That was all any of them had needed to hear. Kara watched quietly with mixed emotions, as her friends congratulated one-another with back slapping’s and hugs. It felt strange to be unable to jump up and join in, but even if she could, Kara wasn’t sure she would want to. She hadn’t been with them for the past five months. Their experiences were not her own and it was difficult to relate to their sense of jubilation. Kara was aware of Alex at her side, equally quiet, Maggie tucked in behind her, resting a supportive hand on the small of her back. 

“So, you remember everything?” asked James, almost laughing in delight, as the rejoicing began to simmer down.

“Winn, you were the first person I told I was Supergirl.” She said, smiling at her friend to her right. “J’onn, for reasons I cannot fathom, you had a Britney Spears album in the car when we went to Mars; Barry, is The Flash and set me on fire when he fake-saved me from Silver Banshee; James, the first time we kissed you turned into a zombie because of Myriad; Maggie you always buy pistachio ice-cream for me when you go shopping, making you the best sister-in-law in the world. And Alex? Well, Alex used to spy on my dates, and then follow us, and although it used to irritate the hell out of me, I always knew she was just being protective, making sure she was there in case I needed her.” 

“I didn’t think you knew.” 

“Of course, I knew,” said Kara, focussing solely on Alex. “You were the most unsubtle spy in Midvale.”

“Reaally?” Maggie asked surprised.

A little uncomfortable with where this was going, Alex tried to defend herself. “She exaggerates. And besides, Kara has super-hearing and x-ray vision, so everything is unsubtle to her.”

“Speaking of,” butted in Winn, leaning on the handrail of the bed, “do you have your powers?” 

Kara was silent for a moment as she processed the question, her gaze dropping to her lap. She wasn’t ready for this line of questioning, or where it might lead. The pain in her side was more noticeable as she answered, “I… um… no, I don’t.”

“Are you sure?” prodded James gently, trying to be supportive.

“James, enough.” snapped Alex from across the bed, pinning him with a glare.

Surprised by the force in Alex’s tone, Kara paused a moment before whispering dejectedly, “I’m sure.” 

The silence that followed pressed in on them all like a heavy cloud, the mood suddenly sour. Thinking they might try and press on with the questions, Kara was about to feign sleep to avoid any more awkwardness when Barry piped up.

“You have Britney Spears albums?” he asked J’onn, with surprise, Kara’s earlier comment only just dawning on him.

J’onn seemed to straighten up, standing as tall as possible in his human form, while the rest of the room stirred as Barry’s question sunk in. “Hardly important right now,” muttered J’onn. 

“Oh yeah,” confirmed Kara for Barry, relieved at the change of subject. “He has a collection of cheese to rival my own.” Kara was about to elaborate when she caught J’onn’s eye. Instantly forgetting he could still see her as well as hear, she mouthed _Spice Girls and Wham_ to Barry.

Winn’s jaw dropped in shock, whilst James was looking at J’onn as if he was more alien than he had ever realised. Even Alex was trying to hide a smirk. J’onn levelled a steady gaze at Kara with the groups’ full attention now turned on him. “You made a promise to never mention it.” 

“I did?” asked Kara innocently, from her position on the bed. “Can’t say I remember,” she added, emitting a small laugh which immediately caused her to tense in pain, sucking her breath in sharply. 

“You’re still hurt,” said a concerned Alex, a troubled expression lining her face as her eyes flitted to where Kara’s wound had been. The lesion had finally closed about two hours ago, but the skin was still red and raw. Alex’s hand ghosted around the area, careful to not touch the angry looking tissue.

“Only a little,” played down Kara, shifting slightly to cover the exposed skin, the movement forcing Alex’s hand to fall away. “Another, couple of hours under the sunlamps and I’ll be fine.” 

Alex tensed a little, instantly feeling Maggie rub her back gently in response to the tightening of muscles. Kara was not fine. She was taking longer than usual to heal and was clearly in pain. She felt guilty for thinking it, but the second time in a few days, Alex was being denied the homecoming she wanted from Kara. Why couldn’t they just hug and cry, and pretend everything was ok, even if just for a little while, instead of this awkward reunion, where neither of them really said anything? There were glimpses of the old Kara breaking through, still, Alex wanted more. She wanted everyone to leave, so she could have some alone time with her sister. Some time, where they were just… _them._

The swish of the med-bay door had them all turning at the interruption. Alex felt a knot of apprehension settle in her stomach. She hadn’t realised how nervous she was about seeing her mother again. Their relationship was as strained as it had ever been, and now here she was, hovering in the doorway, uncertain of what she would find. She looked older than the last time Alex had seen her, tired, the lines on her face a little deeper, leaving a slight pang of guilt at how distant she’d allowed them to become again. 

“Eliza,” smiled Kara, leaning around her sister to see the woman who’d always treated her like a daughter. 

“My sweet baby girl,” sighed Eliza in relief. It was one thing to be told Kara was home, but to actually see it, was another thing entirely. Hurrying to Kara’s bedside, she held her adopted daughter tightly, relief flowing between them. “Are you ok?”

A little stab of jealousy hit Alex in her gut as she watched Kara and Eliza hug. That’s what _she_ had wanted. Exactly that – to hug Kara. Half-sitting in her mother’s embrace, Kara must have been in pain, and Alex wanted to intervene on Kara’s behalf, but she could see how much they both needed this moment.

“I’m fine,” Kara repeated automatically. She had forgotten what this felt like, being hugged by someone she loved, and the realisation threatened to overwhelm her. Abruptly breaking away before she let her mind wander too far down that path, she sunk back into her pillows, 

Eliza simply drank in the sight of her for a moment, stroking her hair away from her face. Kara tried to relax into the feeling, tiredness tugging at the edge of her consciousness again. Was this her life now? Always feeling exhausted, forever slipping into unconsciousness? How human.

“Alex?” asked Eliza after a moment, turning to her eldest daughter for a truthful answer as her youngest fought against the tide of tiredness. 

Alex shifted a little closer, resting a hand on her mother’s shoulder as they watched her sisters’ eyelids flutter. “She’ll be ok, mom.” she affirmed, trying to squash her feelings of doubt. Her heart lifted a little when Eliza took her hand in her own. A small gesture, one that said _we will all be ok._

Even with her eyes closed, Kara could feel Eliza searching her psyche for some truth, the way only a mother could. But Kara didn’t want to show her what was there. What was written on her soul and in her heart was for her alone. Not for anyone else. Especially not for them.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late this week so adding two chapters at once. The first one is a shorty, but hopefully progresses the plot.

Having discarded socks and shoes for the feel of the cold metal floor, Knoxx paced slowly with his hands clasped behind his back, pausing every now and then to flex his toes on the smooth surface. The wide viewing platform stretched before him like the vast expanse it looked out onto. He needed to think, and no where was better than in the unending black blanket of space, away from any forms of life. 

Although, there was one life-form he had hoped to be here. He was genuinely disappointed Kara wasn’t home with him. Of course, it wouldn’t be for long, but still… Everything was a little too quiet without her. He’d gotten used to sharing his space with another living being, the feeling of a room when it was occupied by someone who breathed the same air, particularly one who he could share memories with, and he missed it. He missed _her_. 

Knoxx turned as a glass of water was handed to him, an almost undecipherable electronic whir the only hint at another presence in the room. 

“Thank you, Kelex.” Knoxx turned his back on the Kryptonian robot, dismissing it as he savoured the flavours of the Earth drink. He had fallen in love with water from his very first sip. How anyone could think this refreshing drink as bland was beyond him. Even Kara hadn’t fully appreciated what an amazing resource water is, preferring something sweet instead. 

Knoxx sighed. He _missed_ her. Recently he had been so angry with Kara for disappearing, for running off without even telling him, and just when they were about to enter phase two of the plan. With hindsight, he realized it was probably accidental, she wouldn’t have fallen into another universe on purpose. Now that he’d found her again and his anger had subsided, he realized how attached he’d become. They were business partners, that’s all, and yet he’d actually been looking forward to having her home with him again. There was something uniquely wonderful about Kara, something that he had not anticipated when he’d first set out to find her.

He had heard things of course, about the Girl of Steel. Beings across the universe spoke of her, some with admiration and love, some in fear and hatred, her ability to universally provoke such strong feelings was what had first made him listen. Learning she was a native of the doomed planet of Krypton, where he himself had spent most of his early life – another reason; but he knew he had to find her when he discovered she was an El, and not just any El – _Kara Zor_ -El, daughter of his former mentor. Kara, who he would joke around with, sneaking her into her fathers lab. Kara, who he knew always looked up to him, and would leave notes for him with ideas to test her fathers theories. Kara, who had _almost_ been his equal. 

How apt, it should be she who helped him continue what he had begun with her father. To give it new life and vision beyond anything he had hoped for before. He even wondered whether Zor-El had planned it. Humans and Kryptonians shared so many similar traits, their arrogance and disregard for the planet they lived on was astounding, particularly when so many species shared it with them. Was it really a coincidence Kara Zor-El had been sent to Earth, a dying planet where she would be the most powerful being alive? That he himself, had been sent on an off-world mission by her father just weeks before Krypton died? 

Shaking his head, he brushed the thought aside, before resuming his pacing. He could never know the answer, Zor-El had kept secrets until the day he died, so it was useless to dwell on it. He finished his glass and placed it on the table. Wanting to feel less restricted, Knoxx took his jacket off, folding it and laying it gently on the chair. Seeing the stain of red on it, his thoughts returned to the days events. In particular on Kara’s behaviour. Her actions had been… unexpected. Knoxx had anticipated Kara had lost her memories - why else would it have taken so long for her to re-appear? Yet, without her memories, Kara had _defied_ him, and not only defied him, she did it for them, _Alex and Maggie._

And that _puzzled_ him. She wasn’t supposed to have any feelings for them. She certainly wasn’t supposed to be able to say, _no_. He shouldn’t have been surprised, Kara had always been wilful and it appeared she carried that stubbornness into adulthood. It was part of the reason he had enjoyed the past few months together. Watching her defy him again and again, until she had finally submitted to him. It had been wonderful to remind Kara of who she really was, not a human, not a _Danvers_ \- as she liked to call herself, but a daughter of the once great house of El. The next generation of a ruthless family.

She had fought so hard at first, fighting him with every fibre of her being, showing a wonderful display of human emotion. But as the months went on, her determination had waned. He literally watched the hope die within her, until all that was left was a cold Kryptonian, ready to obey orders without question, an asset to any military guild. Today however, today he had seen that spark of humanity in her again. Maybe it was due to the memory loss, or maybe he had simply missed something, although he doubted that.

One thing was clear to Knoxx, thin though they were, Kara’s ties to the human race were holding her back, so he would just have to cut those ties, one by one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed I like writing dialogue, so chapters like this are really hard for me, which is why I spend so long staring at them! Eventually I give up editing and just post! ; ) 
> 
> If this chapter didn't put you off, keep reading for the next!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is _mostly_ fun. Again, I spent so long staring at it, trying to iron out the awkward language at times, that in the end I decided to stop tweaking and just give up and post. Hope you enjoy!

“Hey, you’re up!” cried Winn as Kara meandered down the steps of the D.E.O. no longer confined to the med-bay.

An impromptu round of applause from the agents, left Kara blushing profusely. Several agents stopped to shake her hand, with “Welcome back, Supergirl.” or “Welcome back, Ms Danvers.” It was as though her awkward return two days before had never even happened. Kara politely thanked them in her embarrassment, grateful for their support, but all the while wishing the ground would swallow her whole. _Where was a portal to another universe when you needed one?_

Winn, Maggie and James waited patiently for her, leaning casually against the round table in the main D.E.O. hub, where they had been chatting. Each was savouring the sight of Kara being welcomed home - properly this time. After being stopped yet again by another agent, Winn felt it was his duty as best friend, to intervene.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough.” he said, pushing past agents to personally escort Kara away. “So,” Winn asked as he guided Kara to some breathing space near his desk, “you’ve been given the all clear?”

“No. She has not,” came Alex’s stern voice as she appeared at the bottom of the side stairs. All four friends blanched at the tone, slowly turning to confront Alex as if they had been caught trying to smuggle Kara out of the med-bay themselves.

“Aww, come on, Alex!” protested Kara, putting on her best pout, the only one brave enough to truly face the formidable glare. “I’ve been in that bed for days!”

Winn half raised his hand to interrupt, “Actually it’s been hours not days…” Kara’s pout turned into a glare, now directed at Winn. “And I forgot I should never choose a side in a Danvers argument - I’m sorry - I’ll just be over here at my desk…working” he finished meekly, as James helped him slide into his desk chair to stare at the screen in front of him.

“Kara, the doctor hasn’t given you the all clear yet,” said a softer Alex, as she approached her sister.

Kara sighed. “I know that, but my wound has healed, and she’s never going to give me a full bill of health until my powers are back, which, I will never get if I am confined to the med-bay for the rest of eternity! And - and you can’t force me to stay there. I’m discharging myself.” Kara shouted as she professed her final statement. She was about to continue, feeling she hadn’t argued her point well enough, when she noticed Alex’s raised eyebrows and lips pursed in disapproval.

“Have you finished?” asked Alex, momentarily taken aback at how much like her mother she sounded. She kept her mask of disapproval in place, using all her training to not let Kara see the horror that thought produced. She must not show weakness - the first rule of sister arguments.

Kara clamped her mouth shut, thinking speaking further would not be the right choice. 

“I was going to say, don’t think I hadn’t noticed how you waited until we had all left the room to sneak out, but,” Alex, visibly relaxed as her relief seeped through, “it really is good to see you up and about.” 

“Oh.” Kara smiled sheepishly at Alex. “Thanks.” she added with a smile, adjusting her glasses. Maggie watched the interaction between the two women with narrowed eyes, as an awkward silence fell over them. _What was going on? Why wouldn’t they just hug it out already?_ It was early days, but Maggie had a feeling she would have to lock the two of them in a room together before long. 

Spotting a familiar figure approaching, Kara physically jumped at the chance for a diversion in conversation, or lack thereof. “Barry! “ 

“Hey Kara, feeling better?” asked Barry as Kara frantically waved him over to join them.

“Much!” beamed Kara. 

“Good.” He fell silent, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“Is everything ok?” queried Kara, laughing anxiously at his behaviour.

“Yeah - it’s just - um - I -”

“You’re leaving.” stated Kara, bluntly.

Barry watched Kara’s smile drop. “Noooo. No that’s not – “

Instantly she smiled again, masking her disappointment. “Barry, it’s ok. You’ve been absent from your own Earth for long enough. I’ll just miss having you around, that’s all.” She made it sound so simple, so easy to say goodbye, when deep down she knew it would leave a hole. Barry was a friend, a very good friend, but living on another Earth gave their relationship a different perspective. He wasn’t as involved in her life as the rest of her friends and family were, and in just a few days Kara had come to rely on having someone around who was just a little separate from the others. 

“I don’t have to go,” Barry tried to back-peddle, recognizing Kara was hiding her feelings.

“Pfft, Rao no!” protested Kara, “Iris would probably kill me if we kept you here any longer. Go! See your wife! Save the world! Do whatever it is you do on Earth 1!”

Barry pulled her into a hug, “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too. And thank you, for everything” she said earnestly, knowing that without him she may not be here.

“You ready then?” called Winn from across the floor, as Barry broke away from Kara, nodding the go-ahead to Winn. The team gathered to say goodbye as the portal opened, J’onn and Eliza joining them, each exchanging farewell’s and thanks in their own way. Lastly Alex embraced him, whispering her sincerest thanks for bringing her sister back to them. 

Feeling strangely emotional at having to leave his Earth 38 family behind, Barry paused at the portal, taking a moment to look back at them all.

“You know,” he said addressing them all but looking at Kara, “I’m just one inter-dimensional phone call away if you need me. Just call,” he took the rest of the group in, “and I’ll be here in a flash.”

Everyone groaned, rolled eyes, threw whatever was to hand in his general direction.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“You ruined the moment Barry,” James informed him. “Get out of here.”

Giving them one last cheeky grin, Barry disappeared in a swirl of blue and white. The team waited for the portal to close before heading back to their lives, letting the proverbial door close on another chapter. 

And waited. 

And waited.

“Well this is awkward,” quipped Winn. “Maybe it’s broken?”

He’d barely finished his sentence before something small and solid came hurtling through, Alex’s reflex’s kicking in to catch it, as the portal suddenly closed. 

“Yeay!” clapped Kara, seeing the small device in her sister’s hand. “it’s my phone!”

Alex held it out to her before suddenly snatching it back when she glimpsed the screen-saver.

“Kara Danvers, did you _snog_ The Flash?”

Kara went scarlet. “What? Pfft. No. Pfft. Why would you - I never - did _that_.” she denied, fiddling with her glasses.

“Well I’m pretty sure I have evidence to say otherwise,” Alex teased, wagging the phone around in her hand.

“Share, Danvers,” joined in Maggie, laughing as Kara lurched for her phone just as Alex tossed it to Maggie who deftly caught it, James leaning over her shoulder to gawk.

“Fine,” huffed Kara. “I may have… _fangirled a little.“ For the second time that day, Winn’s jaw dropped in a delighted smile, while the others laughed as they shared the phone around. All but J’onn and Eliza, who watched the scene play out like parents watching their kids fighting in a playground. “But, in my defence, I was suffering from extreme amnesia after a trauma,” Kara laid on thick, “from which I am still recovering.”_

__

__

“I thought you said you were fine,” flung back Alex, feeling self-satisfied at throwing that back at Kara.

Kara’s eyes narrowed at the low blow, storing it on her sister revenge hit-list for when she had an appropriate come-back. Instead she held out her hand expectantly, waiting for her friends to cave with guilt and give her the phone. She didn’t have to wait very long.

“Thank you, Winn,” she said, smirking at her power to persuade, as he placed it in her hand, muttering an apology whilst avoiding Eliza’s disapproving look from over Kara’s shoulder.

“Weak.” Alex muttered as he walked past her.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Kara said, head held high, taking the superior high-ground.

She looked at her phone, shrinking in on herself as she flushed in embarrassment, mumbling something about “killing Cisco Ramone” as she tried to change the picture. A moment later her face lit up like a she’d just found a pile of presents under a tree.

“Inter-dimensional upgrades!” she squeaked.

“What?” cried Winn. “No! That’s _my_ thing!”

“Can I see?” asked Alex, her eyes lighting up in excitement.

“I’m sorry Alex,” smirked Kara as she side-stepped her sister, gleefully taking her revenge from only moments before, “I have a phone-call to make.” She hit dial as she walked away. “Hi Sara?” she said loudly, making sure everyone could hear her, “It’s me, Kara.” 

Alex stood with her mouth agog, at her sister’s deliberate brush-off.

“Sara?” asked Maggie, raising her eyebrows questioningly to Alex, “As in hot-assassin Lance?”

Alex squirmed, she just knew that _somehow_ this would all be her fault.

 

Kiel had listened as Briana barely outlined the bones of her plan. He then formed questions based on what she had said, each time fleshing out the details from her sketchy answers. He knew it was deliberate, she was testing him somehow, and she sure as hell wasn’t making it easy. At first, he thought he’d completely misjudged her, that actually she was an idiot. A beautiful idiot, but an idiot, nonetheless. Slowly, as she opened up more and more, he came to see that actually this could work. It was subtle and delicate, and right now, there were a hundred things that could bring it down, but that was what he was here for, to help iron out those details.

“Do you have a plan B?”

“Plan B is to use a Kryptonite fusion bomb and bring the whole place down.”

“You have one of those?” asked Kiel.

“I do.”

Kiel frowned with confusion, “Then why don’t we just use that? Seems to me, it is our better chance of success.” 

Briana sighed and Kiel felt he had somehow disappointed her. “Because, it’s an H-bomb. Kryptonite based or not, it would cause a devastating loss of life to any humans in the vicinity, it would also have a negative impact to Earth’s ecosystem in the long run. Personally I don’t want to destroy National City whilst saving the world.”

“Okay,” conceded Kyle, shrugging his shoulders, “It was a stupid question.”

They sat in silence, whilst he once again digested all that she had told him. 

“So phase one is already in motion - you’ve infiltrated the D.E.O.”

Briana nodded. “Peter was spot on when he suggested that one. What he didn’t know was that he would be the one infiltrating.”

Kiel mulled it over. “These tiny-spider things, he didn’t know?”

Briana shook her head. “I knew he’d go after Supergirl, and I was fairly certain he wouldn’t return, so I made sure he’d swallowed them before he left.”

Kiel shifted uncomfortably, pulling at the t-shirt around his neck. “Don’t worry,” smirked Briana, “They’re not in you. Just Peter and friends.” 

Kiel coughed, “Maybe, we should leave that part out when telling the others. So these tiny-spiders will help you find this special mineral you need, then we, what? Open a portal to steal it, use it on Supergirl to kill her?”

“In a very loose sense.”

“What if we’re caught?” 

“We won’t be.”

“Because of your diversion.”

“Because of my diversion,” confirmed Briana.

“And touching this rock will kill her?”

“The rock as you like to call it, fused with synthetic K will kill her.” 

“How do you know?”

Sighing, Briana rolled her eyes. “Kiel we’ve been through this.”

Now it was Kiel’s turn to sigh. “You’re a genius. I get it. Enough said.” He still wasn’t satisfied. This plan needed to be fool proof and she was still holding out. “Now, this diversion, you said it will bring her to her knees. How?”

Briana kicked her heels off, sitting on the edge of the bed, partly wishing she had never started this conversation. “It’s simple. I’ll use her humanity against her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooo with Maggie - just hug it out already! And I realise this is within my power to make it happen but they are both holding on to so much that they're not there yet, so like me you'll just have to wait #sorry/not sorry.
> 
> Also, the plan at the end is deliberately vague. When it comes around, that will be a big scene that is very dramatic so I am trying to only tease it. 
> 
> Anyhoo, thank you to everyone who continues to read. I really do appreciate your support.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is tough on Kara and Alex. Nothing but angst I'm afraid.

Kara had heard the muffled sounds of an argument from the moment her foot touched the top step. She didn’t need super-powers to hear the angry shouts coming from the meeting room, even with the sound-proof glass that lined the walls.

Tentatively, she walked along the corridor until four bodies revealed themselves through the glass wall of the meeting room. Eliza was sat, eyes downcast, shaking her head as her hands tightly clasped the mug of tea in front of her; Maggie was standing with her back against the wall, arms crossed, stewing as she watched proceedings, chipping in every now and again; J’onn stood near the head of the table, fists clenched, planted firmly on the glass as he leaned forward, as Alex paced, like a trapped tiger, her body restless and rippled with anger.

The scene was playing out like some family melodrama from Kara’s childhood. How many times had she watched as Alex argued with Eliza, or herself, or everyone and no-one?

An agent hurried past Kara, head bowed in embarrassment. Glancing around, Kara saw the furtive glances people were giving her as they shrunk away from the spot of such contention. _Time for an intervention,_ thought Kara. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room.

“What is going on in here?” she asked, having to half-yell over the noise, causing everyone to instantly fall silent. Quickly closing the door behind her, she added with mock sincerity, “You’re _scaring_ the agents, and I didn’t even know that was possible.”

The shock on everyone’s faces, made it very clear none of them had been expecting the interruption. Judging by the quick looks they all gave to the world beyond the glass, they had each long forgotten how exposing these rooms were.

“Anyone?” prodded Kara, a little unnerved by the silence that had followed her arrival.

Eliza was the first to speak, getting up from her chair to reassure Kara with a stroke of her arm. “Sweetie, we were just talking.”

Kara snorted, “I know - I could hear you from the other side of the D.E.O.”

J’onn scrutinized her, his head tilting to one side, as he asked, “You could?”

“Oh, no! Not _hear_ you, hear you,” answered Kara, wide eyed, “Just regular hear you, with my very average hearing. You know, when I said the _other side of the D.E.O._ I may have been exaggerating, a little.”

The atmosphere suddenly felt oppressive to Kara. She fiddled with her glasses, abruptly stopping when she realized what she was doing. This was her family, why were they making her so nervous? _Stupid question._ She knew why. She was the reason they were arguing, that much had been clear, and here she was, blundering into the room, dragging along a massive red elephant with sequins on; a fact that she didn’t want to acknowledge, but if what she had overheard was anything to go by, the rest of the room clearly did. Kara rapidly tried to think her way out of the situation. Hadn’t she been avoiding this kind of problem all day? And then she was the one to bring up her powers. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ She had given them an opening.

“Sweetie, Alex said you have some of your powers but not all?”

And there it was.

Her hands, automatically went to her glasses, before she registered again what she was doing. “I - um,” Kara picked up an apple from the fruit bowl on the table, “I, I guess not.”

“You guess not?” asked J’onn.

Kara looked at him confused by the question, her mind taking a little while to catch up. “No, I mean, I,” she fiddled with the apple, spinning it, “I don’t have them - my powers - except for the, um, except for, er, the…” _Why was this so hard?_ “The…” Kara trailed off, unable to say it.

“Invincibility,” supplied Maggie, gently.

Kara nodded in relief, gulping at the sympathy written on her sister-in-laws face. “Yes,” she said as she slid into a chair, no longer trusting her legs to hold her up.

Mimicking her, J’onn slowly took a seat opposite, careful to remain at the same level as Kara. He seemed to ponder his next words carefully. “Can you tell me why you don’t have your other powers?”

“No.” _Liar._

Eliza slid a hand over the table, taking Kara’s in her own by way of comfort, forcing the younger woman to stop fidgeting with the apple. It was meant to be a reassuring gesture, but all it did was fill Kara with dread. This conversation was inevitable, whenever and wherever it took place it would always be too soon.

“Did something specific happen?”

_Something specific? Did something specific happen? Wasn’t everything that happened specific?_ She thought about every seed of doubt that was planted, every memory that was spoiled, every word, every single touch, they were all carefully designed to -

“Kara?”

She pulled herself back, blinking in the harsh lights of the room, trying her best to fight off the demons clawing their way through her mind, eager to pull her back into the inky depths of her now tainted soul. “No." _Liar!_ "I mean -”

She tried to focus on the feel of Eliza’s warm hand, clasping her own.

“Kara, sweetie, you can stop at any time.”

The room was beginning to feel small, the air suffocating. She tried to remember what it was like to soar above the city, listening to the people below, the cold wind kissing her skin. She tried. But they were distant memories. Instead she remembered the cold wind of the portal wrenching at her flesh, her panic at being left in yet another enclosed space, the feeling of loneliness.

“Okay, that’s enough!” snapped Alex, harshly yanking Kara out of her thoughts, causing the younger woman to jump. The effect on Alex was instantaneous. “Kara, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to -”

“It’s okay.” Kara interrupted, slamming a lid on her own feelings as she soothed her sister. “You just surprised me that’s all.”

Kara smiled at Eliza, before turning her attention back to J’onn. “Where were we?”

“Kara, you don’t have to talk about this, not if you’re not ready.”

“I’m fine.” Alex’s face clouded at those two words. “Really I am,” insisted Kara upon seeing her sister’s expression. “Ask away.”

 

 

Alex slammed the bottle on the sink in front of her, surprising herself when it didn’t smash. There was a little left. Not much, but enough. How many stashed away did she have left? Two? Three maybe? She pulled the lid off with a satisfying _pop,_ the citrus and vanilla aroma instantly having a calming effect on her. She thought about the meeting, about Kara’s answers. She was _lying._ Every word that came out of her mouth was a lie.

Alex lifted the bottle, her tongue tasting the remnants of the golden liquid on the rim as she licked her lips, savouring the moment before she made final contact, before the liquor burned away the stress of the day.

“Alex, are you in h–“ Kara stopped abruptly in the doorway, as Alex quickly fumbled to hide the bottle behind her back, the sound of glass ringing across the granite surface.

Embarrassed, Kara tried to back-track. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” she trailed off, her eyes locked on the bottle clearly reflected in the mirror behind Alex.

“Did you want something, Kara?” Alex leaned against the counter, trying to act casual, despite her abrupt tone.

Kara’s thought’s were trying to catch up with what she’d seen, eyes darting between the mirror and Alex’s guilty expression. “I, um, I was just going to…” she trailed off again, forgetting what she had come in for, awkwardness filling the space between them. Confused by the sight of a bottle of alcohol in a D.E.O. bathroom, Kara made sure the door was closed behind her, before asking conspiratorially, “Is that _Whisky?_ ”

Knowing she’d been busted, Alex stopped trying to hide the bottle, immediately changing tactics and going on the defensive. “So what if it is? It’s been a pretty rough day Kara, I’m allowed a drink.”

Taken aback by Alex’s tone, not grasping the situation, Kara tried to keep her own light, “Yeah, but with the rest of us. Not secretly in a bathroom at work.”

Alex’s temper flared. _How dare she?_ She had no idea what Alex had been through, what it had been like. Now she stands here, _judging_ her? “You want to talk about _secrets,_ Kara? Fine. Why don’t you tell me what really happened with Knoxx?”

Kara flinched at the name. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut as the room darkened around her. “What?” was all she managed, barely forming the word.

“You heard me.” Alex was being spiteful, she knew this was unfair, but she couldn’t seem to help herself, this is what Kara would call her ‘mean drunk’ coming out.

The bathroom door opened, slamming into a shocked Kara’s back.

“Oh, I’m sorr - Kara!” exclaimed Maggie, “Are you o-?”

Maggie didn’t finish, as she pieced together the scene in front of her, her stomach dropping at the incriminating bottle, now in Alex’s hands.

“Come in, Maggie, join us. Kara was about to tell us a story,” said Alex with scornful civility.

Maggie eyed the two sisters; two sides of the same coin, both hurting; one wearing the pain all over her face, shrinking in on herself; the other, hiding her pain beneath hostility.

“So come on, Kara, now Maggie’s here too, why don’t we all have a drink, and you can tell us why are you lying?”

“Alex!” admonished Maggie, shocked by her wife’s insensitivity.

Kara didn’t understand. _Where was this coming from? _“__ Lying? I’m not lying…”

“Really? So all that stuff upstairs about not remembering where you were or what happened to you, that’s the truth is it?”

“Alex, don’t,” warned Maggie

Alex hated herself for this, for pushing, but she was sick of the awkwardness, sick of the lies. “Because it seems to me you’ve been lying since the moment you got back. Tell me, are you _fine_ , Kara?” 

“Stop!” Maggie shouted at her wife, angrily.

Kara faltered.

“I thought as much.” She wanted to stop what she was saying. Alex knew she was hurting Kara, but then again, she wasn’t wrong, was she? Kara’s reaction had clearly proved her right, her sister was lying. Alex made to push past Kara. “You can keep the bottle,” she said, shoving into Kara’s chest, “maybe you can mix it with something to loosen your tongue.”

Alex stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Kara shaken to her core. Maggie recognized that look, she’d seen it in her own mirror so many times after one of Alex’s outbursts. This time, she was angry. So angry she wanted to confront Alex, to scream at her, but she couldn’t leave Kara like this. Instead she tried to replace her anger with empathy as she took the bottle from Kara, swapping it with tissues, as she enveloped Kara in a hug. Kara tried to resist at first, Alex’s words still stinging, but Maggie was persistent.

“She didn’t mean it,” whispered Maggie, cooing over and over as she stroked Kara’s hair, the latter sniffling into her shoulder. Maggie had never known Kara to be this fragile. Sure she’d seen her cry, watched Kara detach herself from the world, harden herself against it’s hardships, much like the way Alex did, but in all of that there was a certain strength. This Kara seemed, _broken_.

The word was still ringing in her head when Kara pulled back, red-eyed to ask, “how long?”

Maggie hesitated, unsure of how much to tell Kara at this stage, after all she was dealing with her own trauma. Deciding there was no use in hiding it, not now that Kara had born witness, Maggie responded, “Pretty much since that day.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Kara, she didn’t need to ask what day Maggie referred to, it would be forever ingrained in her memory. Five months. Kara thought about how hard it must have been for Alex, and for Maggie. She put an arm around Maggie leaning into her. “I’m sorry.” she confessed.

“Hey, stop that right now.” admonished Maggie, resting her hand where Kara squeezed her shoulder, “You have nothing to be sorry for. It just happened. And, you know what? She’s doing better? She’s trying harder, and she has a great support system who will be with her every step of the way. This, this was just a relapse.”

Kara nodded in agreement, wanting to believe it. She knew that when Alex was ready, she’d have the best people possible to help her through it. “Does Eliza know?”

Maggie thought about it. Neither woman had brought it up, but Maggie knew Eliza had spoken to Alex, and she’d periodically check up on her through Maggie and sometimes J’onn. “She knows. Maybe not all of it, but she knows.”

Kara thought about the impact her absence had on her family, about what it was still having.

“Alex was right, I was lying,” admitted Kara.

“We know.”

Kara started. “You do?”

Maggie smiled fondly at her sister-in-law. “Kara, you’re too honest to make a good liar. But, you know, you don’t have to lie. If you’re not ready to talk, just tell us. Don’t let me, Alex, J’onn or anyone force you into a situation you’re not comfortable with.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” asked Maggie, confused.

“For being here. For being you. I’m glad Alex has you.”

“You have me too, Kara. Always.”

This time it was Kara who initiated the hug, yawning as the stress of the day caught up with her. “Right Little Danvers,” came Maggie’s muffled voice, “At the risk of sounding like Eliza, it’s time to get you home to bed.”

Kara didn’t argue. “Okay, but first I’ve got to do something.”

Maggie nodded. “She’ll be in the training room, punching things.”

 

Alex was _furious_. Upon leaving the bathroom, she’d headed straight for the training room, kicking out the recruits who were already in there. She may not have her badge anymore, but they still recognized her authority, besides, none of them were going to argue when they saw her expression. Not bothering to strap her hands she went for the nearest punch-bag, hitting it with trained execution, enjoying the burn of her knuckles hitting the leather.

_Why did I say those things? I called Kara a liar!_ She saw how shaken Kara had been whilst answering J’onn’s questions, but still she just had to push her. Had to call her out. _You even brought up Knoxx. How could you? He’s evil. He held her captive. Who knows what he did to her, and you had to fling it in her face._

Tears were welling up in Alex’s eyes, her knuckles raw from the ferocity of the repeated impact of skin against leather, but she wouldn’t stop. She deserved to hurt. After all, hadn’t she hurt Kara? The one person, who, next to Maggie, she loved most.

Alex kept her back to the door as she focused on the bag in front of her. That didn’t stop her noticing someone entering the space. It would either be Maggie and Kara, of that she was certain, neither of whom Alex wanted to face. She finished her routine before hugging the bag, steadying both it and herself.

A timid voice called to her, “Can we talk?”

Alex felt her whole body deflate. _Kara._ Of course it was Kara. Alex wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, blinking a few times to ensure there weren’t anymore tears waiting to spill over, before she turned to look at her sister. Kara seemed more composed than when Alex had left her. Alex guessed Maggie had something to do with it. She made a mental note to say thank you later, and to apologize. Which was exactly what she needed to do now, with Kara. There was so much she wanted to say, this was her chance to set things right, but now her anger was subsiding, leaving a cold uncertainty, and Alex couldn’t find the words.

It was Kara who broke the silence, as Alex wiped the sweat from her brow with a towel. “Alex! Your hands!” she cried, quickly closing the gap. Kara’s concern for her sister overwhelmed all other feelings as she took Alex’s hands in her own to inspect the cracked and bleeding skin around her knuckles. “Here, let me.” Kara pursed her lips, ready to use her freeze breath to cool the angry skin, before she realized her mistake. That wasn’t going to work. “Sit.” She ordered Alex, before half running to a stack of supplies in the corner of the room.

Alex did as she was told, sitting on a nearby bench, watching in bewilderment as Kara returned, her arms laden with supplies. Dropping her hoard on the bench, Kara sat next to Alex, rifling through her treasure.

“Water.” She held out a bottle to Alex, her look leaving no room for argument. Alex took a sip. Kara narrowed her eyes, Alex took several gulps. Satisfied, Kara held a protein bar out for her, wagging it in Alex’s face, when she didn’t immediately take it. Rolling her eyes, Alex snatched it away, taking an enormous bite, just so Kara wouldn’t nag her. She instantly regretted it when she found she barely had enough room to chew, but by then Kara was already moving on to her next task. Taking Alex’s hands, she peered at the wounds like any good doctor deciding on a course of treatment. Cracking open the first aid kit, she picked at the contents.

“Antiseptic wipes,” mumbled Alex through a mouth full of chewy nuts. “Then ice.”

Kara nodded, she knew that. “Right. Wipes, to clean the wound and stop infection, ice to reduce swelling” she said as if reciting a first-aid manual. She had learned the basics many years ago, the first time she’d seen Alex hurt herself in fact. Human bodies were so fragile, and Kara had wanted to be prepared for anything. It had just been a while since she’d actually used that knowledge; maybe it was time for a refresher.

Kara gently wiped the blood from the knuckles, cleaning them slowly, methodically, whilst Alex watched, enjoying the care with which Kara was taking. She was always so careful not to hurt Alex, even now, without her powers. Kara finished clearing the blood before gently applying ice to the already purpling fingers.

“I’m sorry.”

Alex’s heart broke at hearing those two words. She could hear the final threads that had been holding her heart together, literally tear. “Kara, you have nothing to apologize for.”

Kara kept her gaze fixed on where she was holding the ice. “I do,” she insisted, “you’ve been hurting and it’s my fault. I wasn’t here.”

“No,” said Alex firmly, pulling her hands away so she could lift Kara’s face to look her in the eye. “None of this is your fault. It’s Knoxx’s fault, and those black-clad idiots who are forever trying to kill you, and the guy in the bar who bad-mouthed you, and -”

“Someone bad mouthed me?”

“Well, Supergirl.”

“Oh.”

“My point is, the hurt I’ve been feeling has been about you, but it’s not been _because_ of you.”

Kara thought about what Alex was telling her. “So you’re not angry with me?”

Even though Alex had known this was how Kara must have felt, it hurt to hear her confirm it. “No! And I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I’ve been lashing out at everyone, and taking it out on those I love, Lord knows Maggie and J’onn have been taking the brunt of it, and today I took it out on you. That’s not me trying to make excuses. I was wrong. I knew you didn’t want to talk but I pushed you anyway, and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

“I thought you hated me,” choked Kara.

At that tearful admission, Alex swept her into a hug, “I could never hate you, Kara. You’re my sister, and I love you, no matter what.”

Kara knew she could speak up, could tell Alex why she had thought that; it went far beyond today’s actions, but she couldn’t. Her throat was too thick with emotion, her heart aching with pain. Alex held her tight, flowing all her love for Kara into that embrace, and Kara accepted it, allowing the love to fill her up, to heal her as much as possible. The months and months of doubt and fear were temporarily swept away by that moment. Alex loved her. She hadn’t abandoned Kara.

As if sensing a shift in Kara’s thoughts, Alex squeezed her sister tighter, pouring everything into her words as she repeated, “I _love_ you, Kara.”

Kara almost told her everything, right there and then, but she couldn’t find the words. Once that line was crossed, there would be no going back, and Kara wasn’t ready for that. Alex wasn’t ready for that. All those times Kara had prayed to Rao to see her family again, to see Alex again, and he’d answered, here they were, it just hadn’t occurred to her they would be as broken as she was. How could she ever tell them, knowing the pain it would cause?

She couldn’t. She had to be strong. This was her burden, not theirs. Those feelings needed to be buried deep. She would bury them with love, that’s what she’d do. She’d done it before, with Krypton, and with Supergirl, she could do it again.

“I love you too, Alex.”

It wasn’t enough, but it was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neither of them are 'fixed', but the first step in healing, maybe? Perhaps we'll start to see the Alex we all know and love.

**Author's Note:**

> This is all new to me. First ever fan-fic, but been sitting on this story a long time. First time sharing anything I've written with others. I'm trying to break out of my comfort zone, push my boundaries and maybe learn a thing or two. My grammar is pretty rubbish so sorry if it reads poorly! 
> 
> It's gonna be pretty long but hopefully not boring! 
> 
> Comments welcome - be gentle. Gulp - here we go...


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